


we'll be playmates and lovers (and share our secret worlds)

by peeks, tazer



Series: so show me family [1]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Kindergarten & Pre-school, Anal Sex, First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff, Hockey Player Jonny, Idiots in Love, Kid Fic, Kindergarten Teacher Patrick, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-23
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-09-01 15:00:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 38,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8628802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peeks/pseuds/peeks, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tazer/pseuds/tazer
Summary: “Just admit you like him.” “Shut up, Sharpy,” Patrick says, before he rolls his eyes and tries to ignore the smirk widening on Sharpy’s lips. “Don’t you have your kids’ parents to bother?” “No, my last kid left a couple minutes ago, so I’m totally here to watch you and Jonathan Toews make heart eyes at each other,” Sharpy laughs, waltzing into Patrick’s classroom. He immediately makes his way to see Sadie, who greets her dad with a hug.(In which Patrick Kane is terrible at feelings but luckily, Patrick Sharp is a total bro.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> We've been working on this for about 8 months and we're happy to see that all our hard work (and procrastination) has paid off! We hope everyone enjoys this as much as we enjoyed writing it.
> 
> Thanks to [liveinfury](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lotionbottle/pseuds/liveinfury) and [hippietoews](http://archiveofourown.org/users/hippietoews) for the quick beta and most importantly, thank you to everyone on Twitter who motivated us to get this done and heard us whine constantly about how we wanted to finish it so badly :)
> 
> The title is from 'Big Girls Don't Cry' by Fergie :)

_September_

Patrick is sitting on a chair in his classroom, listening to the soft snores of his kids during nap time as he wonders how long the paint stains on the floor will take to come out. He’d been extra cautious and most of the kids were careful not to spill anything, except for a few fallen paintbrushes, so Patrick just encouraged his kids to find a mat to sleep on while he cleared up the area. It was only a couple minutes into nap time but they all seemed exhausted already, and fell asleep almost immediately.

Patrick rubs at his temples, leaning on the table in front of him with his elbows, feeling the tiredness catch up with him as well. No matter how long his days were, or how tired he was when he returned home, he couldn't get enough of his job. He loves kids. Their constant happiness and easy lives make Patrick envious, but his job has always been the best part of his day. He may or may not be regretting taking the paints out on the first day, but he knows that his classroom was one of the happiest today and that's good enough of a reason for him.

Patrick is smiling to himself when he spots movement from the corner of his eye. He glances upwards to see Annabelle, one of the new kids in his class this year, sitting up on her mat. Her eyes shift around, accompanied by the frown settling on her lips, and land on Patrick, who offers a small smile.

Patrick didn't have the chance to meet whoever dropped her off this morning—even he has to pee sometimes—but Sharpy was told that she's a very shy kid and probably wouldn't interact much. Patrick was sure he'd be able to get her involved in the finger-painting activities he had set up for everyone, but instead she sat at the corner table with the folder of white paper and crayons that she came in with that morning. Every so often, Patrick would sit next to her and ask her questions about her drawings, but Annabelle would just look at him, only offering a small closed-mouth smile. The only kid in his class that was able to get her to talk was none other than Sadie Sharp, which Sharpy nudged at him with a smirk while it happened, obviously proud of his own daughter. It made Patrick happy too, even though he hadn’t been able to talk to Annabelle himself.

Now though, she was looking at Patrick from her place on the mat, glancing hesitantly between him and the other kids around her. He decides to wave her over since her lying back down doesn't seem too likely. He watches her as she wobbles to her feet and makes her way to him. He offers out a hand, which Annabelle quietly accepts and he guides her right outside the class, leaving the door ajar so he'll be able to keep an eye on the rest of his class. Once outside, he kneels to her level.

“Hi, Annabelle,” is what he comes up with. If Patrick is completely honest, the kid intimidates him. One wrong move and he could mess up the chance of having a good year with her.

She continues to stare at Patrick with indecipherable eyes, and he sighs, keeping his smile genuine and friendly.

“What’s wrong kiddo? You don’t wanna take a nap?”

The only answer he receives is a curt shake of her head.

“Why not?”

Annabelle just shrugs.

Patrick glances back into his classroom, the small chests of his kids rising and falling as they sleep. He spots Annabelle’s folder atop the corner table, her drawings scattered. He turns back around to her, and notices her shifting on the balls of her feet.

“You wanna go back to drawing?” Patrick asks, and watches her smile grow on her face.

Her enthusiastic nod makes Patrick smile to himself. He silently whispers an, “okay” and tells her to wait in the hall. He grabs a small table and brings it into the hallway, along with two chairs. He enters the classroom again, grabbing all her papers and coloring markers and when he returns outside, Annabelle is happily sitting in one of the chairs, her feet swinging back and forth underneath it.

He sets her stuff on the table and takes a seat in the one across from her. “You don’t mind if I join in as well, do you?”

Annabelle shakes her head, handing Patrick a handful of different colored crayons. He accepts them with a “thank you Annabelle” and she smiles again. He observes her as she draws, brown hair falling over her face, a small hand coming up to bat it away every so often. She’s adorable, with wide, curious eyes and small, nimble movements. Her focus is strongly on her drawing, and Patrick peers over to catch a glimpse at the paper.

There are two yellow skinned stick figures, one dressed in red and holding what seems to be a hockey stick, while the other is shorter and sports trimmed brown hair. Between the two taller people is a little girl, her hands reaching up to clasp that of the man dressed in red. She's dressed in a small pink dress and Patrick is sure Annabelle has drawn herself.

“Who’s that?” He points to the smiling little girl.

Annabelle tilts her head upwards and locks eyes with Patrick. For a moment, she’s quiet, but then she glances back down at her paper and smiles.

She points to the drawing of the little girl, like Patrick had. “S’me.” Her finger then slides to the man in red. “Papa. And then that one’s Uncle David. He’s nice and gives me cookies.” Her finger lands lastly on the male with the brunette hair.

Patrick admires the drawing. It's definitely better than anything he could draw. He looks at the cat or bear or whatever the hell he was trying to draw, and laughs. Annabelle reaches over the table for Patrick’s paper and giggles once she sees the horrendous piece of art.

Patrick feigns being hurt and dramatically grabs his paper back. “Yeah, yeah. I know it sucks.”

Annabelle gasps.

“What?” Patrick stills and sees Annabelle staring at him, wide-eyed.

“You said a bad word, Kaner. Papa says that's a very bad word and we shouldn't say that,” she informs, returning to her colors. “One time, I said a bad word and I had to sit in time out for ten whole minutes.”

“Right, I'm sorry Annabelle,” Patrick says regrettably. “That was very unprofessional of me.”

“I forgive you, Kaner. You don't have to go to time out,” she giggles and the two of them go back to their respective sheets of paper.

The rest of nap time lasts around twenty minutes. In that time, Annabelle engages in conversation with Patrick more than any kid he's spoken to all day and he mentally pats himself on the back for getting her out of her shell.

Sharpy walks by while the kids are eating their snacks, happily chatting away amongst themselves. He spots Annabelle at a table, laughing happily with four other kids, including Sadie, and he smiles.

“Not-so shy anymore, huh?” He pats Patrick on the back. “Her dad will be happy.” He waves at Sadie when she spots her dad at the door next to Patrick.

Annabelle glances up when Sadie begins waving excitedly and Patrick can see the shy, little smile that forces its way onto her face. Patrick grins proudly to himself, counting this as one of his best days at work.

*

The kids begin clearing out, one by one, and Patrick speaks to their parents, filling them in on the activities of the day. Most are as Patrick expected, sophisticated and snobby, cell phones glued to their hands, waving him off if he begins to tell them that their child misbehaved.

Patrick is talking to one of Timmy's dads, letting him know that his son only had one minor incident involving another kid and a book. Once he’s scolded Timmy and Patrick is promised that it won't happen again, he walks the man to the front door. Timmy turns his head around to Patrick once more and raises a tiny hand to wave furiously. Patrick’s still smiling when he sees another figure nearing his class.

The man is tall, his eyes flickering through the classroom, probably looking for his son or daughter and Patrick can’t help but stare at his broad shoulders. He shifts his eyes to the left, meeting Patrick’s for a few moments, before he turns his attention back on the few remaining kids. The man’s arms are big and strong and if there weren’t other kids or even other parents, Patrick is pretty sure he’d ask him to hold just about anything in this room that is relatively heavy. Good thing he doesn’t have time to do just that because at that moment,  Sadie comes sauntering out of his class to tug on Patrick’s shirt sleeve. He reassures her that her dad will be done with work soon and will come bring her home, before turning back to the general direction of the entrance.

He spots the man again, taking in his facial structure this time, admiring the way his collarbones stand out of his low cut shirt, and the way his chiseled jaw looks nice and soft. His eyes light up when he finally spots his kid and—Oh god, that’s Annabelle’s father. Patrick smiles to himself as he watches the two of them interact, Annabelle throwing her arms around her dad’s neck as he kneels down to pick her up into his arms. She lets out a small giggle that her father reciprocates in the form of a smile, before Annabelle begins to blabber on about her day. Patrick catches his own name in there a couple of times, and decides he should walk to where the two stand at the doorway.

“Kaner!” Annabelle spots Patrick while he's making his way over, her arms wrapped tightly around her father's neck.

Patrick stops near them and smiles at her. “Hello, Annabelle.” He tickles his finger on her stomach, forcing a small shriek and a giggle out of her. He then turns to her dad, smiling. God, he's attractive.

“I'm Patrick.” He sticks his hand out to the god-like man.

Annabelle’s father takes his hand off of his daughter's back and gives a firm shake, accompanied by a kind smile. “Nice to meet you, Patrick Kaner,” he says, and Patrick could just kiss the innocent expression on the man’s face right off.

He doesn't. Instead, he laughs.

“Uh—well. It's actually Patrick Kane but Kaner sounds cooler. Right, Annabelle?”

Annabelle nods her head enthusiastically, and Patrick laughs. Some of his old buddies used to call him Kaner so Patrick’s been used to the nickname for a while already, but it makes Patrick happier hearing it come from his kids.

“I didn't catch your name?” Patrick questions, bravely.

Annabelle’s father opens his mouth to reply, when another voice interrupts.

“It's Jonathan! His name is Jonathan,” Annabelle bounces in her dad’s arms.

The two men glance down at her, then back up, noticing the humorous looks on each other's faces.

“Jonathan,” Patrick states.

The shyness on the older man's face is noticeable as he rectifies, “Jonny.”

Annabelle starts wriggling in Jonny’s arms, signaling for him to let her down. Jonny does just that and she immediately clings onto Patrick’s pants, one hand clasped to the other around his legs. Patrick chuckles, sees Jonny’s amused expression, and looks down at Annabelle.

Raising an eyebrow, he asks, “Can I help you, kiddo?”

Her smile is from ear to ear, all teeth exposed as she questions excitedly, “Can we color again tomorrow, Kaner, please?”

Patrick knows his face splits into a shit-eating grin, which he can't quite hold back and he nods. “As long as you behave for your dad tonight and he comes back tomorrow morning telling me about how you were the best little girl. Then, we can color.”

“‘Course. I'll be the best little girl ever and I'll even eat all my veggies—even the smelly green ones. What are they called again, Papa? Broli–Broco–”

“Broccoli, Anna,” Jonny answers for her. Patrick is mesmerized by the way his voice becomes lighter, softer, when he switches to French for an instant.

She nods frantically, confirming that's what she meant.

Patrick watches the two of them as Annabelle slips into her outdoor shoes, needing Jonny’s help only a little bit. She keeps talking about anything and everything, feet swinging off of the bench she's sitting on, almost knocking Jonny in the face a few times, and Patrick laughs.

When Annabelle is ready to go and back into her father's arms, Jonny smiles. He turns to Patrick and with their faces so close together, Patrick notices just how much Jonny and Annabelle look alike. It shouldn't make Patrick feel all giddy inside but it does for some reason. Patrick saves that thought for another day.

“It was nice meeting you,” Jonny is saying now, dodging Annabelle’s hands which are determined to run themselves through Jonny’s perfectly coiffed hair. Patrick smirks, offers a rushed, “you too,” and watches as the taller man carries Annabelle out the front door, her bright red backpack dangling off of Jonny’s shoulder.

*

Everyone has gone 15 minutes later besides Sadie, and Sharpy pops in quickly to let her know he’ll be out soon to which she happily returns to her drawing. He looks at Patrick quickly but not enough that Patrick doesn’t miss the weird expression on his face, before he ducks out. He frowns but shrugs it off as Sharpy being his usual odd self, grabbing a couple of paper towels from the sink area and begins wiping down the floor, mentally cursing paint for drying so fast.

Patrick’s still on the floor when he spots Sharpy waltzing back into his classroom from his peripheral vision. Sadie jumps up as soon as she spots him, and Sharpy lifts her right into his arms. She leans her head on his shoulder, mumbling something to Sharpy which Patrick isn’t able to catch. Sharpy does turn around to Patrick then, but he has on the same face he did before when he first came in.

He looks at Sadie and tells her to go grab her coat. “I gotta talk to Peeks,” he says, watching her walk out of the class.

Patrick looks up at that, lifting himself off the floor and dusting the back of his pants off. He stares at Sharpy incredulously and asks, “What was that about, man?”

Sharpy walks up to meet Patrick at the sink where he's gone to wash his hands. He's biting his lip, a sign of nervousness, but Patrick is pretty sure Sharpy is a robot because he never gets nervous. He's still curious, though.

“What?” He questions. The soap pump is stuck in the bottle, and Patrick is having a mini fight trying to get it to work, so he doesn’t have time for the way Sharpy is dancing around the subject.

Sharpy doesn't say anything at first, watching Patrick mentally curse the Shrek-themed soap container. Last time he buys anything from the dollar store.

“What is it?” Patrick asks again.

“Do you know who that was? Annabelle’s father?” Sharpy replies with his own question.

Patrick finally gets the soap to work and runs it through his fingers and over his palm.

“Jonny? Yeah, what about him?”

“What's his last name, Peekaboo?”

“Well, his daughter is listed as Annabelle Toews.” Patrick is confused and maybe a little concerned. This is weird, even for Patrick Sharp.

Sharpy sighs, runs his hands over his face, looking distraught. “Peeks.”

His tone is warning, making Patrick feel like he's the one who's missing something.

Sharpy continues, “Pat, his name is Jonathan Toews. As in Jonathan Toews, three times Stanley Cup Champion, captain of the Chicago Blackhawks. You know, hockey.”

Patrick is about to protest that he does know hockey, in fact he pretty much lives hockey, when what was said registers in his head.

“Jonathan Toews, three times Stanley Cup Cham—” He stops short to take a breath.

He continues.

“Are you telling me that the child of a hockey legend is in my class?”

Sharpy nods. “How did you not recognize him?” he asks, clearly appalled by Patrick’s lack of excitement.

Whatever.

Patrick shrugs. He grabs a brown paper towel from the counter, wipes his hands, and disposes it in the waste basket next to his feet. “I don't really follow the Chicago Blackhawks, man.”

Sharpy gives him a side-eyed look.

“You live in Chicago and you said you went to the parade a few years ago,” he says, matter-of-factly.

Patrick shrugs and waves him off with his hand so he can continue to tidy up the rest of his classroom. Sharpy hesitates at the door for a second, before walking out to meet Sadie who’s waiting for him. He grabs her hand and Patrick watches them go into Sharpy’s classroom again, probably to gather up the rest of his things.

While he's gone, Patrick thinks about Jonny, and the fact that he's an NHL superstar. He also decidedly does not think about how attractive he is, or how it must feel to be wrapped in his arms. His oh-so strong arms and—no. Patrick shakes his head, getting those images out of his mind, and tries to distract himself with something different.

Unfortunately that something different is the image of Jonny and Annabelle, and how she looked at him. You could see how much she loves her father and simply how proud of him she is, and that warms Patrick’s heart. And—okay. So Patrick finds him a little attractive and wonders what a night in the Toews household is like, but it's not like he likes him, right?

Patrick mentally agrees with himself. Jonny is just the father of one the kids in his class. A pretty good looking, strong, dorky and cute father. But that's it.

*

As it turns out, that's not it.

The next time Patrick spots Jonny is on the Monday of the following week, when he returns to pick up Annabelle from kindergarten. It's not like Patrick was hoping he would see him throughout the previous days, but he can't deny the fact that he was a little disappointed when Annabelle came and left with a different guardian the past week. She introduced herself as Annabelle’s nanny, later explaining that Jonny had been busy and wouldn't have time for drop-off or pick-up.

Patrick doesn't think he's been acting different that week without Jonny, but Sharpy begs to differ.

“You're moping,” he had said to Patrick after waving Annabelle and her nanny off for the day.

Patrick had only glared before answering firmly, “I'm not.”

Even with the denial, Sharpy kept it up, mumbling about how Patrick should grow a pair already and just ask Jonny out, which he so can't do—God Sharpy, he is a professional—and Patrick pretty much ignored him for the rest of the day, with the older man giving up after a while.

Now, two weeks later, Patrick is tying the shoelaces on one of his kids’ shoes when he spots Jonny through the window of the front door. He sees another teacher heading to open it for him, giving Patrick a few seconds to mentally prepare himself.

He leans in his classroom and calls for Annabelle, whose focus is on the clay that scatters the plastic red tables in front of her and Sadie. Patrick had watched them play all day together along with some of the other kids, and and it made both him and Sharpy happy. Sharpy had commented that Patrick was practically beaming of happiness, to which Patrick shoved him away, denying.

Now, Annabelle hops off her stool and rushes to the sink once she hears that Jonny is here to pick her up and Patrick forces himself not to smile again. He turns his head back around and unfortunately meets the eyes of Sharpy, who appears to be sporting a smirk while leaning against the doorframe of his classroom, just a few doors down from Patrick’s. Sharpy glances back at where Jonny is now walking, then back towards Patrick, his smirk deepening. Patrick takes one last glance at his classroom and Annabelle washing her hands, turning around to catch Jonny trek down the short hallway.

Jonny is all messed up hair and messed up clothing, like he just threw on whatever was lying on his bedroom floor and raced out of the house. The front of his shirt is crumpled and it looks like it's been in one too many washes, yet he still manages to look good enough to model and Patrick is appalled at the unfairness of it all.

Patrick’s smiling until he spots the exasperated expression that lies on Jonny’s face. He looks worn out, his eyes unfocused and looking all around, until they land on Patrick. A tired smile appears on his lips but it feels forced, his feet moving as if they were dragging the rest of his body along, until he comes to a stop, right in front of Patrick.

“Hi,” Patrick says. The bags under Jonny’s eyes are more prominent, now that he's standing this close, Patrick notes.

“Hey. Is Anna ready?” Jonny questions, skipping right to the point of why he's come here.

“Uh—yeah. She's just cleaning up, she'll be done soon,” Patrick replies.

He wants to ask Jonny how he's been. How the road trip he just got back from went - one win, two losses, Patrick knows from the highlights - or how come he looks so tired. He doesn't exactly get the chance to do so, because at that moment, Annabelle comes bouncing out the classroom door, letting out a squeal when she spots her father standing there.

“Papa!” She exclaims, jumping into Jonny’s arms.

Patrick spots Jonny wincing slightly as he lifts her up, her arms wrapping around his neck with a firm, strong grip. The expression disappears as quickly as it came, a loving smile replacing itself on Jonny’s face instead.

Jonny must notice Patrick’s furrowed eyebrows because he gives him a reassuring nod that he's fine. Patrick’s still a bit hesitant because Jonny doesn’t look fine but he brushes that feeling off, continuing to watch as Annabelle pleads her father to let her down. As soon as her feet meet the floor, she's rushing to grab her coat and schoolbag. While she's busying herself, Patrick turns to catch Jonny’s eye once more.

“You okay?” He asks.

Jonny sighs, “Yeah.”

“You look tired.”

“I'm _fine_ , Patrick.”

Jonny’s tone is laced with annoyance and the pointed look he gives then stings Patrick a bit. He brushes it off and gets ready to retaliate with a grumbled, “whatever, man,” but Jonny sighs deeply and runs his hand over his face.

“Look, I’m sorry,” he offers, the words released from between his lips. His gaze meets Patrick’s eyes, holding both regret and sadness behind them. “The road trip really had it out for me.”

Patrick shrugs. “It’s okay.”

After that, they engage in conversation about where Jonny will bring Annabelle now that he has two days off. He tells Patrick about the last time he brought Annabelle to a zoo, and not only did she spend the entire trip singing the theme song for Spongebob Squarepants, she dragged Jonny along for three hours to stare at the panda bears.

“She's comical, I'll give her that,” Patrick laughs. “She's also kind of adorable. I'm guessing she gets that from you.”

So, Patrick’s flirting – sue him. Jonny is a very good looking guy, has the cutest kid, and a killer smile. Anyone would be an idiot not to flirt.

“Oh—I. Um, well,” Jonny stammers out, a blush creeping up over his neck and the tip of his ears. He stops and straightens up his body. “Thanks.”

Patrick nods and the two grown men stare at each other for a few moments, until Jonny looks down towards Annabelle who is now tugging softly on his shirt.

“Can we go, Papa?” Annabelle asks timidly.

“Sure, Anna,” Jonny replies, taking one of her tiny hands in his own.

Great, now Patrick is thinking about how unfairly big Jonny’s hands are. He didn’t exactly need that at the moment, thank you very much.

Fortunately, his daydream is cut short because Annabelle is reaching out for him, her tiny arms flailing towards him. He kneels down to her height and she throws her arms around his body in one swift motion. Patrick hugs her back, smiling a little into her hair.

“Love you, Kaner,” She whispers into his ear. She pulls away after, replacing her hand into her father’s.

Patrick feels his heart tip a little when she says that, and damn it—he better not be getting emotional in the middle of the hallway at his workplace. He sniffles a little, then covers it with a quick cough into his elbow.

“See you tomorrow, kiddo,” He smiles at her, then at Jonny. “See you soon?”

Jonny nods. “I’m going to do drop-off and pick-up tomorrow. It’s an off day.”

Patrick can’t help the excited smile that places itself on his face, then. He’ll be able to see Jonny again in less than twenty-four hours, and frankly, he’s more than okay with that.

They say goodbye and Patrick sees them off to the front door, Annabelle waving her hand profusely until she’s out of sight. And, if Patrick is still smiling about it when he leaves to go home for the night, well, no one has to know.

*

_October_

It’s only Tuesday and Patrick is already looking forward to the weekend so he can get a few extra hours of sleep. He stayed up the night before to watch the Blackhawks game, both because he wanted to see Jonny play but also because he wanted to have something to talk about with Jonny if he’s the one doing pick-ups today. Patrick regrets making that decision when he starts yawning in front of the kids at around ten in the morning.

Now, Patrick’s sitting at one of the small tables in his class, a pile of notebooks shorter than usual stacked in front of him. He’s writing the daily notes to his kids’ parents and only has two more to do before he’s done. Four kids showed up today out of his usual ten. There was a virus going around the past couple of days, and most of his kids were unlucky enough to catch it. Sadie had started to sniffle early in the morning as well, making Abby insist she come pick up her daughter, and letting Sharpy know in the process. Some of Sharpy’s kids were out too, so he told Patrick that he’d take the remaining three of Patrick’s class, Annabelle included, outside while Patrick finished his work.

He finishes scribbling a note to Jonny about Annabelle’s good behaviour, letting him know it was a quieter day today and that she’d probably be tired that night. He stares at his signature at the bottom for a second, before picking up his pen to add a smiley face after it. He hesitates when he’s done, wondering if that’ll be way too high school crush-y of him, but decides to close the book nonetheless.

He gathers his books and sets them neatly on the bookshelf near him, reaching his arms back in a much needed stretch. He closes his eyes and arches his back to crack it, then freezes when he hears something clear their throat.

Patrick’s eyes shift to the classroom door, in front of which Jonny is now standing, his gaze transfixed on Patrick. Patrick reaches to pull down his shirt from where it rolled up during his stretch, standing up, and Jonny seems to snap back into reality. He clears his throat again, flickering his eyes up to meet Patrick’s for a second, before averting them to the floor.

“Hey,” Patrick says. He didn’t expect to see Jonny today, Annabelle’s nanny informing him this morning that she’d be doing pick-up as well.

Jonny’s still avoiding Patrick’s eyes as he greets him back, and Patrick shifts uncomfortably in place. He notices Jonny wearing a tight white T-shirt, to which Patrick is very thankful for, as it hugs Jonny is all the right places. Jonny’s chest is exposed a little from the way the shirt hangs low at the neck, and Patrick could swear he sees a little red formed from the base of his neck to his cheeks.

Patrick shakes his head out of his thoughts, and proceeds to shuffle around the room, fixing anything that seems out of place just for the need to do something which does not require staring at Jonny.

“When will Anna be in? I told her nanny not to come since I’d be done quickly today, so I’d like to take her home a bit earlier,” Jonny pipes up as Patrick begins placing the kids’ notebooks back in their backpacks.

Patrick picks up Annabelle’s to place her book inside, turning to Jonny. “The kids should be back inside any second now.” He hands Jonny her backpack, ignoring the warmth of his hand against Patrick’s.

Sure enough, the sound of the door leading outside can be heard opening and closing, the little kids’ feet pattering down the hall. Jonny and Patrick both turn to look as Sharpy comes into view, one of his kids in his arms and Annabelle holding tightly onto his hand. She’s laughing along to something Sharpy is saying and barely notices Jonny until he calls her name. Annabelle runs excitedly to him, telling Sharpy goodbye, and she begins talking as Jonny guides her to get her things, her backpack already swung around his left shoulder.

Patrick turns to help some of the other kids out of their coats, asking them how their time outside went. He gets a lot of “super fun”s and “amazing, Kaner”s which is pretty much as expected. Sharpy’s great with the kids, and he should be, considering his two girls at home turned out to be awesome, in Patrick’s opinion. Bryan is telling him one particular story of Sharpy pretending to be a dinosaur and chasing them around the yard, as Patrick ties up the laces to his sneakers. He laughs along when he hears about Sharpy almost tripping over a tree branch, to which he gets a glare from the man himself.

He finishes up with Bryan just as a cheerful voice cries out from behind him.

“Bye, Kaner!”

Patrick swivels around to see Annabelle, bundled up in her coat and a pink hat fit tightly over her ears. She’s smiling widely at Patrick and waving her little hand at him whilst Jonny stands not too far behind her, a small smile on his lips.

Patrick leans in from his spot on the ground to give her a hug. “Goodbye, Annabelle. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

She nods her head quickly and grabs onto her dad’s hand once more. Jonny thanks Patrick, to which Patrick smiles and politely nods. They wave goodbye again as they’re leaving the class and Patrick adds a little more enthusiasm in his, for Annabelle of course.

It doesn’t take long for his last two parents to show up. Patrick was sitting with his kids on the large mat in the reading corner. He was reading them a story about a frog and a turtle, choosing it for them to point out the bright colours on every page. When he hands the last kid over to their mom, he realizes happily that there was barely a mess made after he cleaned up earlier.

Patrick picks up the book he was reading and shoves it back into place. He walks over to his door and closes the light and the door, before walking down the hall to Sharpy’s class. He has his last kid sitting on his lap, a bunch of toys on the floor ahead of them.

Patrick knocks softly and Sharpy nods him in. He walks over to the two of them and takes a seat on the floor as well, just as Sharpy’s phone starts to ring from his pocket. Patrick sees him pull it out and when Patrick questions him silently, Sharpy just mouths ‘Abby’. He’s probably worried about how Sadie’s doing so Patrick tells him to pick up.

Sharpy looks down. “Hey, Andy. How do you feel about playing with Peekaboo here for a few minutes?”

The nickname is familiar to the kid, as it is to anyone from any of the classes here, and Andy shrugs. He slides off Sharpy, who stands up and walks out into the hallway for privacy.

“Hi there, Andy. I’m Kaner,” Patrick smiles at the boy, once Sharpy is out the door.

Andy looks up to his eyes, giggling. He shakes his head, saying, “No you’re not. You’re Peekaboo.”

Patrick shrugs in defeat because yeah, this is his life now.

They play around with the action figures and Andy laughs loudly when Patrick does something stupid in their game. He and Patrick are both giggling nonstop when Sharpy swings the door open to walk in again. He’s talking to a lady dressed in a skirt and fitted long sleeve, and Patrick would guess it’s Andy’s mom, if the way he jumps up at the sight of her is anything to go by. He hugs her quickly before asking her to wait a minute. The three adults watch and he walks back over to the toys he was playing with and begins neatly placing them back in their boxes. Patrick helps him lift them up into their spot on the shelves and then turns to see both Andy’s mom and Sharpy look proudly at the young boy.

Sharpy kneels down to give the kid a fist pump and a hug, and Andy’s mom thanks him. She smiles at Patrick as well and he waves to her and Andy, who calls out a, “Bye, Peekaboo!”

That makes Sharpy laugh, obviously proud of himself for corrupting all the kids in the building. Patrick shoves him as he rearranges a couple things and then stands.

“How’s Sadie?” He asks as Sharpy moves to grab his things and close up the classroom.

“Abby said she had a fever this morning after she came to pick her up, but she’s doing a little better now. She told me that herself,” Sharpy responds, smiling at the memory of talking to his daughter.

“That’s good.”

They walk back to Patrick’s class and he’s out quickly, slinging his bag onto his shoulder. They wave at the teachers that are still in their class as they pass them  in the hall and then walk out to the parking lot.

Sharpy follows Patrick to his car and then leans against the hood. “So,” he starts.

Patrick unlocks the back door to place his bag inside and says nothing, letting Sharpy continue talking.

“So,” Sharpy repeats, looking at Patrick. “Abby and I want you to come to dinner sometime this week. It’d be good for you to go out, plus Maddy misses you.”

Patrick scoffs. “I go out.”

Sharpy rolls his eyes. “Peeks, I’m your best friend. If I’m not the one you’re going out with, then who are you going out with?”

Now it’s Patrick’s turn to roll his eyes because fuck Sharpy for being right all the time. And anyway, it’s not like Patrick would pass up a dinner at the Sharps’. His and Abby’s interaction that morning was one of the few times he got to see her lately, and he _was_ missing Maddy like crazy.

“Fine, dinner. What time?” Patrick asks.

“Like you don’t wanna go,” Sharpy teases, knowing how much Patrick loves Abby and the girls. “Friday night work for you? 8:00?”

Patrick nods and Sharpy smiles.

“Now get off my car, fucker,” Patrick shoves Sharpy sideways to get to the driver’s door.

Sharpy laughs and ruffles his hair before taking off across the lot. He calls back a, “Bye!” and Patrick shakes his head as he gets into his seat.

Fucking Sharpy, man.

*

Patrick finally gets to sleep in on Friday morning, hitting snooze on his alarm and rolling over onto his stomach instead of getting up for his usual morning routine. He was granted a day off that day to make up for his Wednesday, which he’s extremely thankful for, and he plans on making the most of it by staying in bed for as long as possible. Patrick grabs the sheets and pulls them up higher to cover his shoulders and closes his eyes once more.

He must drift off for a bit, because the next time he opens his eyes, his phone pings loudly from his nightstand with an incoming text.  

Patrick groans and reaches up to grab it. He checks the time before unlocking it to deal with the text. It’s only ten, and Patrick could usually sleep later than that on the weekends but he figures it’s already late enough to get up.

The text is from Sharpy and just reads, _Still on for tonight?_

Patrick sends an affirmative reply before leaving his phone aside to roll out of bed. He walks to the bathroom to piss, then starts up the shower. He doesn’t spend more than five minutes in there, quickly cleaning himself and then getting out to towel off. He picks out a large sweatshirt to throw on, the remaining small droplets of water from his hair soaking the hood as it passes over his head.

Patrick grabs his phone, smiling when he sees a picture from Sharpy pop up on his screen. It’s of Maddy and Sadie, sitting at their kitchen table for breakfast. Maddy’s got a huge grin on her face and her hand stretched out in a wave towards the camera, while her sister is seated to the left and remains engrossed in her small bowl of cereal that sits on the table in front of her. There’s a caption underneath the photo.

_Maddy’s pretty excited to see you. Sadie, not so much_

Patrick smirks, typing out, _she sees me all the time i know she loves me._

 _That makes one of us_ , Sharpy’s text simply reads.

That’s got Patrick laughing as he plops down on his sofa. He locks his phone and finds the remote instead to turn the TV on. They’ve got a rerun of some crime show playing so Patrick puts it on in the background as he gets up to make himself some coffee, settling into his day off.

He’s pretty much accomplished nothing by the time seven rolls around. He got up to organize some things for his kid’s portfolios before, but finished rather quickly, finding himself back on his couch for another hour. Afterwards, when he was going to start getting ready, he discovered he’s run out of fancy wine bottles that he usually brings over to dinner parties, so Patrick had to make a quick run to the store. He picked out something red and French, vaguely remembering Abby saying those were her favourites. Patrick hoped he picked a good one, though he’s not sure if he knew what any of the words meant on the label.

Now, he rummages through the drawers in his bedroom, settling on a nice black shirt to go with his pants. He fixes his hair a bit in the bathroom before heading to the kitchen to grab the bottle of wine from the fridge. Patrick grabs his keys and phone, texting Sharpy to let him know he’s on his way, and heads out the door.

Sharpy doesn’t live too far. Patrick has to drive past his workplace and for a few more minutes down some streets, but he makes it there before eight anyway. He pulls up to the Sharps’ driveway, and Patrick snags the spot right behind Sharpy’s car. The lights are on in the hallway as Patrick walks up the front steps to knock on the door. He’s not waiting long before the white door swings open to reveal Sharpy on the other side.

“Hey,” he greets Patrick. Behind him, Patrick can spot the remnants of toys in the hallway, smiling because of how cozy their house seems.

Patrick gives Sharpy a quick hug, moving to take his shoes off before walking in. He follows Sharpy to the kitchen, wine bottle in hand, and the smell of cooking food hits him as he’s reminded of how hungry he is. Abby’s standing over the stove, stirring the contents of one pot while something sizzles in a pan. She’s got her back turned to them and doesn’t notice Patrick until Maddy’s voice calls out, “Uncle Patrick!”

Patrick hears her running into the kitchen, Sadie in tow as they both shriek and attack his legs. He gently places the wine bottle onto the counter beside him so he can properly kneel down to hug them both.

“Hi Maddy, hi Sadie,” Patrick smiles. “How are my two favourite girls?”

He receives a loud reply of “good!” from both of them and he quickly tickles both of them before standing up to greet Abby.

She’s smiling at Patrick, and walks up to give him a tight hug, which he returns. Once she pulls away though, her hand comes up to lightly slap him on the shoulder.

“That’s for taking forever to come over,” She says, giving Patrick a pointed look that means she’s not really mad.

Patrick has no time to reply before Sharpy interrupts from his seat with the girls at the table. “That’s because he’s been too busy pining over one of the parents at kindergarten.”

Patrick turns to glare at Sharpy’s smug face. His eyes trail over to where Sadie and Maddy are sitting at the table, clearly oblivious to the conversation around them and Patrick envies them. He ignores Abby’s questioning eyes and her obvious desire to grill Patrick on all the facts about his pining (not that he’s admitting to pining or anything), and settles for changing the subject.

“What can I do to help?” Patrick gestures towards the cooking food. Abby shows him where the ladles are so he can start pouring soup into some bowls. It smells amazing, and the room grows quiet as everyone helps dinner get ready.

It only lasts for a bit though, because Abby pipes up, “Jonny, right?”

Patrick stalls as he’s placing the last bowl on the dinner table. He faces Sharpy, who’s once again grinning, and asks, “Really?”

“Hey, I don’t keep things from m’lady,” he says, putting his hands up defensively.

“Let’s just finish serving the food and we can discuss this over dinner, both of you,” Abby reprimands, yet still sends a wink Patrick’s way to let him know that the grilling is so on.

Patrick gets Maddy and Sadie to help with the spoons, forks and napkins, letting them circle around the table to place them neatly. He sees Abby carry a plate full of steaming salmon in one hand, and a bowl of rice in the other. His stomach growls faintly as he takes a seat directly across from Sharpy. Abby sits on his left and the two girls sit on his right, Maddy taking the seat closer to Patrick.

They all dig into their soup first, Sharpy helping Sadie out when a little bit dribbles down her chin. She and Maddy are blowing on their spoonfuls to get them to cool off before slurping them, and Patrick smiles at the cuteness of it all. He starts asking Maddy about how she’s liking her school and she hops right into the stories of her fellow first graders, interrupting herself to giggle when she remembers something particularly funny. Patrick figures it’s more of a _you had to be there_ story, but he laughs nonetheless.

Abby goes to stand up after a few minutes and Patrick watches as she reaches into the fridge to grab the bottle of wine. She inspects the label before turning to him. “Nice choice.”

Patrick simply smirks and Sharpy snorts. They both ask for a glass when Abby offers and she serves them both, then herself, and then slides back into her chair. She sips her glass once, turning her head to Patrick afterwards.

He tastes the wine too, mentally patting himself on the back for making the right decision, before bracing himself.

“So,” Abby starts. She picks up her fork to scoop up some rice before continuing. “Tell me about your Jonny.”

“He’s not _my_ Jonny,” Patrick grumbles. His eyes cast down to the tablecloth and then up to Sadie. She’s got her own thing going on; she’s cutting her salmon into small pieces to mix into her rice, just like Patrick had always done. He focuses back on Abby. “He’s just Annabelle’s father.”

At the mention of Annabelle, Sadie stops her fork from chopping her salmon. She smiles widely and begins talking about her and Annabelle’s last adventure outdoors. Patrick had watched as they raced through the playground, tracing sticks along the ground and laughing until it was time to go back inside. It’s clear how close they’ve become and his heart warms at the thought.

Abby listens to her youngest daughter talk and gives Patrick a look that tells him their conversation is far from over. Patrick smirks at his plate, before getting distracted by Maddy calling him into another conversation.

*

After dinner, Sharpy brings the girls into the living room to hang out before they go to sleep. It’s already past their bedtime, but Patrick figures they begged to eat with the adults. It makes him regret not coming often enough to see them, and he makes a mental note to change that.

He stays in the kitchen to help collect the dishes and bring them to the sink, where Abby is soaking them. She doesn’t keep the silence for long, speaking up as soon as Patrick gets close enough. “Now that my husband is out of the kitchen, you can fill me in on the details.”

She’s talking about Jonny again, of course. Patrick can see the kindness behind her curiosity and he knows he owes her an explanation.

He sighs. “He’s Annabelle’s dad.”

Abby rolls her eyes at him, but he continues quickly, “He’s Annabelle’s hot dad. And funny. And - I don’t know. He’s cute, you know? But he’s also this worldwide famous NHL player.” He sort of trails off after that, not knowing if he should continue.

Abby stays quiet for a bit as she scrubs the pot in her hands and rinses it under the water. “You wanna know what I think?”

Patrick does. He says as much. “Yes.”

“You should ask him out.”

Patrick opens his mouth, then closes it.

Abby places the last dish on the rack and wipes her hands on a towel before turning to him again. “For coffee. Something simple. Not too much pressure for the both of you.” She shrugs her shoulders.

And Patrick knows a coffee wouldn’t hurt. He’s still iffy about the “dating the father of one of his kindergarten kids” thing but like Abby said, coffee is simple, easy. Patrick can be simple and easy.

He smiles at Abby, thanking her. She opens her arms out and wraps them around Patrick in a hug. Sharpy walks in then, seeing the two hug it out.

“What’s going on?” He inquires.

Patrick pulls back from Abby’s hold but she speaks up first.

“Pat’s going to ask Jonny out.” The way she says it causes Patrick to get butterflies in his stomach. That’s never happened to him before and he fights a blush that threatens to creep up his neck.

“Weeks with me and you won’t listen, but one night with my wife and she convinces you? Harsh, Peeks.” Sharpy shakes his head, crossing his arms across his chest as he feigns hurt.

Patrick laughs. “What can I say? Clearly shows who I value more as a friend.” He’s just playing with Sharpy’s buttons and it just makes him laugh harder when Sharpy flips him off.

Abby scolds him, telling the two to behave themselves while she goes to get the girls ready for bed. Sharpy and Patrick walk to the living room to sit on the sofa, the show that the girls were watching still playing on the TV.

“No, but seriously dude. I’m happy for you,” Sharpy comments, after a bit. Patrick knows already, because Sharpy is a pretty awesome guy and an even better friend.

Patrick doesn’t reply, just settles into the couch further, and grabs the remote to switch channels.

*

Besides the weekend, Patrick talks to Jonny pretty much on the daily, except on Monday when he’s in Toronto for a game. He notices that Jonny doesn’t do much of the morning drop-offs that week, to his own disappointment, but he’s very content when Jonny walks through the blue painted front doors of the building in the afternoons.

Today, Jonny is looking exceptionally well and Patrick feels something skip inside him. His hair is wet and messy, probably due to the wind outside and it takes a lot for Patrick to refrain himself from running his fingers through it. Jonny’s cheeks are flushed, mainly because of the temperature outside but Patrick likes the light tint of red on his cheeks more than he probably should. From the moment Jonny walked in to come pick up Annabelle, Sharpy’s been sending glances his way from his nearby classroom. Patrick ignores them, hovering around Jonny and Annabelle instead of actually saying much. Annabelle was his last kid today, besides Sadie, who’s already gone to hang out with her dad in his class.

It’s only when Annabelle is buttoning up her coat that he finds the courage to tap Jonny on the shoulder. The hockey player is watching his daughter intently but his eyes soften when they turn to meet Patrick’s.

He licks his lips as he waits for Patrick to speak, and Patrick gets distracted by how soft they look. Patrick can’t help but notice the scar on his upper lip but he doesn’t question it, as he figures it has to be related to hockey.

“Uh... Pat?” Jonny questions.

Patrick suddenly remembers how to hold a proper conversation, and his eyes snap back up to meet Jonny’s.

“Sorry,” Patrick says quickly, then gaining confidence, “Would you like to get coffee sometime?”

“Coffee?” Jonny’s voice is questioning. His eyebrows are furrowed, tense, but he relaxes when he sees Patrick open his mouth to form a reply.

Patrick nods. “Yeah, coffee. I heard it’s something a person takes another person for when they think they’re cute. Also helps when they’re funny, but maybe that’s just me.”

Patrick is keeping this light and fun and yeah, he can _totally_ do this.

It's definitely even better when he hears Jonny laugh.

“Yes, I can do coffee,” he tells Patrick, an airy tone audible in his voice. “And I’ll pay.”

“You don’t have to pay.”

“I want to. Plus, I heard it’s something a person does when they find their date cute too. Plus, if they’re funny, can’t forget that.”

Jonny’s smirk is noticeable on his face, matching his voice as he humours Patrick.

“Of course not.” Patrick agrees.

They must be smiling like dorks to any onlookers that walk by, but neither can find it in themselves to care. It’s only when Annabelle returns to her dad’s side that they actually exchange contact information. Jonny promises to text Patrick the times that he’s not on the ice, and Patrick promises to let him know when he’s not up to his ears in children’s books and Play-Doh.

Once they leave, Patrick walks back into his classroom to start gathering his things. He hears a soft knock on his door and turns around to see Sharpy leaning up against the doorframe, a knowing smile playing on his lips, and his daughter’s hand clasped in his own.

“What?” Patrick asks, even though he’s already sure this is going to be about his and Jonny’s conversation in the hallway.

“Oh, nothing,” Sharpy singsongs, throwing his shoulders into a dramatic shrug. He ushers Sadie to a small table in the corner that has a pile of books, even though Patrick knows she can’t read yet.

Sharpy turns back to him and Patrick rolls his eyes, walking off to go grab his boots that litter the floor in the far corner of his classroom. He doesn’t hear when Sharpy follows him, stopping right behind him, so his body jolts a little when he whirls around and bumps right into him.

“What?” Patrick repeats for the second time. He tries swerving around Sharpy but since he’s taller than Patrick, Patrick has a hard time making it any further than two steps.

“So,” Sharpy starts. There's a glint in his eyes and Patrick knows he's mocking him. “I hear that you and a certain someone have a certain coffee date coming up and I like to think that I played an important role in this. You’re welcome.”

“Oh, _fudge off_ ,” Patrick tells him, well aware of the child in the classroom. Abby would kill both him and Sharpy if her daughter came home from kindergarten swearing like a sailor. Still, he doesn’t want to admit that Sharpy did have a huge part of convincing him, something the both of them already know. Patrick grabs his coat off of the hanger and makes his way outside the classroom, hearing Sharpy tell Sadie that it’s time to leave. Patrick waves at some of the teachers that he passes on his way out and decidedly ignores Sharpy all the way to their cars.

He does put a smile on his face to say goodbye to Sadie, kneeling down to her height to give her a hug. She mumbles a tired, “Goodbye, Uncle Pat,” before returning to her father’s hold.

Sharpy ends up driving over to Patrick’s apartment later that night to hang out, and he doesn’t bring up Jonny or Annabelle anymore. Instead, Patrick chooses to ask about Abby and Maddy and Sharpy jumps right into updates about his future vacation plans, happily sipping on Patrick’s beer. Patrick thinks it’s better this way.

*

_November_

Their date ends up falling on a Sunday, two weeks later. With Jonny’s busy schedule, Patrick knows he has to be patient and he thinks he’s been doing a pretty good job so far. He can’t, however, resist the smile on his face as he pushes the door open to the small coffee shop that Jonny texted him about. It wasn’t a long walk from his house and as soon as he walks in he can see Jonny, already seated at a booth in the back, with a cup of coffee sitting on the table in front of him and his phone in his hand. He looks up when Patrick gets near him, smiling, and Patrick smiles back.

“Hey, Pat,” Jonny says. His hands are cradling the cup in front of him as the steam escapes from the top.

Patrick replies, “Hi, Jonny.” He’s starting to take off his coat so that he can sit down, but Jonny holds out a hand to stop him.

“I was thinking,” Jonny starts. “Maybe we could take the coffees to go? Go for a walk or something?” He starts standing up and then waits for Patrick’s answer.

Patrick shrugs, not really minding. “Yeah, sure.”

Patrick waits for Jonny as he puts on his own jacket, and then follows him to the counter so that Patrick can order. Patrick rattles off the name of his coffee with just the right amount of sugar to the barista, before turning to Jonny. “What’d you get?”

Jonny’s currently sipping from his cup but the smirk behind it is noticeable. “Same thing as you.”

Patrick raises his eyebrow. “Uh huh. And how on earth did you figure out how I like my coffee?”

“A man can’t tell all his secrets, Patrick,” Jonny answers, in a solemn tone with no hesitation.  

Patrick shakes his head. “Tell me,” he says, glaring suspiciously until Jonny cracks.

“Anna told me.”

“I told her that in confidence when she couldn’t sleep,” Patrick says, aghast, even though he doesn’t really mind.

Jonny smiles, his eyebrows relaxing. “Tough break, buddy. Guess you’ll have to teach your kids about secrets.”

Patrick hums but he tries changing the subject. He doesn’t want Jonny to find out he’s taught the kids about secrets three weeks ago.

The lady behind the counter comes back with Patrick’s drink and Jonny steps in front of him as soon as Patrick thanks her. Patrick watches as Jonny pulls out his card. “It’s on me.”

The barista nods her head and waits until Jonny’s done punching in his numbers, putting a smile on her face to wish them a good day. Patrick and Jonny answer back and smile as well, before walking to the exit.

When they’re outside, Patrick nudges Jonny. “Thanks. You didn’t have to do that,” He gestures towards the coffee in his hand.

Jonny shrugs. “Well, I said I would didn’t I?”

Patrick does remember Jonny saying that two weeks ago and smiles thoughtfully at the memory. Jonny leads Patrick to a path in the neighbourhood, several blocks from the coffee shop. There are people already walking underneath the lamp posts that circle the perimeter, couples with kids and a few alone. Patrick and Jonny follow behind a woman with a stroller, sipping from their to go cups as their arms brush up against each other.

“So, tell me about the roadie you just got back from. You guys were undefeated on the trip, right?” Patrick inquires after a second, glad he asked that question when he sees a glint in Jonny’s eyes.

Jonny offers him a bright smile and jumps right into what happened on the road trip.

He’s halfway through telling a story about the time Hossa tried pulling a prank on him while they were on their way back home to Chicago and Patrick is trying his best to listen to what Jonny is saying, he really is, but gets distracted by the way Jonny’s hands move when he speaks. He also gets distracted by the way Jonny’s voice sounds when he speaks about things he’s passionate about, fruity, nice and pleasant to listen to.

“—and it was the funniest thing ever. I swear you should’ve been there.” He finishes off, looking at Patrick, eyes bright and thoughtful. “Pat, are you even listening to me?” he asks.

Patrick gulps. He gives Jonny a diminutive version of a smile and says, “Yeah, man, I’m still here.”

“You looked a little…off, for a second,” Jonny says, accompanied with a snort.

Patrick shakes his head. He doesn’t want to tell Jonny how distracting it is to watch him talk, so on second thought he simply says, “I was just thinking about something else.”

Jonny nods solemnly, and there’s a moment of silence before he picks up his mug, stating, “So, tell me about the kids in your class.”

Patrick begins by telling Jonny about the time when Timmy attempted to reach for the blue paint bottle that stood on top of the counter. The small child managed to knock over the entire bucket and Patrick was left there to wipe up the entire mess. Of course, Sharpy was no help, laughing at him and congratulating Timmy. Then, after Jonny stops laughing, Patrick rattles on about that time when Annabelle wanted to show him that she was able to carry a whole tray of glasses filled with water from the kitchen to the cafeteria table and dropped them all on her new dress. Jonny laughs at that too and tells Patrick that it’s nice to hear the same story Annabelle told him a few weeks ago from another perspective.

Sometime during Patrick’s story, Jonny directs him to a bench on the side of the path. They watch a group of kids play with their dog in the park nearby for a bit, before Jonny’s turning back to him to ask about Patrick’s family. Patrick knows that he’s shamelessly bragging about his sisters but he can’t help it. Jonny doesn’t seem to mind, just laughs along at the story of when Patrick saw them the last time.

“And like, they’re just so great. I’m so happy to have them,” Patrick’s saying. “Even though they can get annoyingly nosy sometimes.”

Jonny smiles broadly at that. “I like them already.”

Patrick laughs as well and then asks Jonny about his family. Jonny tells him about how his mom was a huge help when it came to raising Annabelle. It was a pretty big surprise when Jonny learnt he was a father, explaining that Annabelle’s mom was his girlfriend years back. Patrick wonders if she’s still around, never having seen her at kindergarten.

“She’s not a part of her life anymore,” Jonny explains, not elaborating on the subject any more than he needs to.

He continues on, talking about when he nearly missed Annabelle’s first steps due to a practice that morning, and the first time she ever called him ‘Papa’.

“It was hard at first. Having to be on the road so often, being away from her for so long,” Jonny explains. “She didn’t like the nanny situation at the start but we’ve definitely come a long way and she understands a lot more now.”

Patrick nods in understanding. He takes a moment to ask about the reason why Annabelle calls him ‘Papa’ and not ‘Daddy’ like the other kids, and Jonny takes the opportunity to point out that he was raised in a franco-manitoban district and that he finds it important that Annabelle learns the two languages. Jonny explains to him that he tries to teach Annabelle as many french words as he can when they’re at home so she can grow up to be bilingual just like he is, which leads to Patrick asking Jonny to verbalize a bunch of stupid sentences in a language he doesn’t even understand.

Patrick laughs and when he turns his head, he notices the same group of kids from before standing not too far off from them. They’re all staring at Jonny while smiling and Patrick nudges Jonny’s shoulder to throw his attention that way. Jonny looks up and waves them over, one of their moms directing them over.

The group consists of two boys and a little girl who looks younger than them. They each start talking to Jonny excitedly and he greets them back, taking time with each kid. Patrick offers to take pictures of them with Jonny and the kids jump at the idea, turning to ask the lady standing with them for a cell phone. She hands it to Patrick and the kids line up with Jonny, who leans down to get to their height. Patrick smiles from behind the camera and then hands it off to the mother.

The kids thank Jonny and he smiles at them, waving to them as they walk back. Patrick and Jonny also start walking wordlessly back to the area where Jonny parked his car.

“I’m sorry about that,” Jonny pipes up as they’re walking, and Patrick becomes confused for a second before he realizes what Jonny means.

“Hey, you did what you had to do,” Patrick shakes his head. “I’m not complaining.” He sort of liked seeing how Jonny acts around kids that look up to him. Annabelle sees him in a similar manner but for some reason this seemed different.

Jonny smiles thankfully. After a beat he asks, “So, what next?”

Patrick thinks about it for a second and before he knows what he’s doing, he offers, “We could go to my place and watch a movie?”

Jonny’s eyes flicker up to Patrick’s as he smiles and then leads them into the parking lot. When they reach the car, Patrick whistles.

“That’s a nice car,” He says. “I mean, the one you drive to kindergarten with is already pretty cool, but this is a really nice car.”

“Do you watch every car that parks into the parking lot or just mine?” Jonny questions, all petulant and scornful.

Patrick smiles and gets into the car, ignoring Jonny’s loud laugh. Jonny sits next to him in the driver’s seat and once Patrick hears the door shut, he turns to face Jonny and says, “Would it sound better if I said I watched every single car that parked into the parking lot?”

“No, it wouldn’t.”

Patrick hums. “Just yours, then.”

Jonny chuckles again, turning to place the key in the ignition. Patrick gives Jonny his address, which he nods his head to, before punching it into his GPS. After he’s done with that, he turns the car on, and the radio begins playing a CD full of what has to be the worst music Patrick has ever heard.

Patrick turns to Jonny with his most unimpressed look and waits for him to meet his eyes.

“What?” Jonny deadpans.

Patrick gestures to the CD player with his hands before saying, “This is - uh - an interesting choice of music.”

Jonny raises an eyebrow. “What kind of music do you like, Kaner?”

Patrick pretends to whisper under his breath as he jokes, “Good music.”

“Yes, I’m sure your collection of Britney Spears albums would agree,” Jonny chirps right back, flashing Patrick a proud smile.

“I do _not_ listen to Britney,” Patrick argues, even though he would be lying if he said he didn’t have a few Britney songs on his phone. He’s got his sisters to blame for that.

Jonny is in hysterics when he says, “Sure you don’t, buddy.”

Patrick huffs, turning dramatically to face the window on his right. In doing so, he realizes that Jonny is just about to make a right turn onto his street. He sees the familiar houses as the car drives on at a respectable speed. The car stops in front of Patrick’s house and then turns into his driveway. He and Jonny get out and walk up the flight of stairs.

Patrick is reaching for the keys in his pocket and he feels Jonny’s presence closer to his back than necessary. It distracts Patrick for a second but he manages to get the door unlock the door and get them inside.

“You want a drink?” Patrick offers once he and Jonny takes off their coats at the front door.

“Sure,” Jonny replies, following Patrick down the hallway.

Patrick grabs a couple beers from the fridge and then shows Jonny the way to the living room. They settle onto the sofa there and Patrick turns on the TV to Netflix. He starts scrolling through the movie titles, turning back to Jonny to ask, “You feel like a comedy?”

Jonny shrugs his shoulders like he doesn’t mind but when Patrick lands on The Hangover, Jonny shoots him an exasperated look. He shakes his head but allows it anyway, and Patrick smirks happily as he falls back onto the couch. He’s sitting close enough to feel Jonny’s warmth next to him but nearly enough that it doesn’t distract him from the start of the movie.

Sometime during the movie, Patrick finds himself slowly scootching closer to Jonny, the other man’s arm thrown above his head. Patrick’s eyes aren’t set on the TV screen anymore as he stares at Jonny’s profile, at the way his long eyelashes brush against his skin every time he blinks. There’s something about his eyes, too, that has Patrick stare into them for a little too long.

Of course, Jonny picks this moment to turn to face Patrick and lay a hand – the one that had been sitting on the back of the couch for half the movie – on Patrick’s shoulder. Their faces are mere inches from each other, the movie long forgotten and Patrick can feel Jonny’s heavy breaths against his face, sending shivers all over. They’re both leaning in, Patrick knowing all too well what’s going to happen but his nose brushes lightly against Jonny’s and that has him turning his head to the side.

Patrick doesn’t let it show that he’s disappointed they didn’t kiss when the end credits start rolling on TV and Jonny stands up, grabbing his beer from the table and heading to the kitchen. Patrick follows him, his own empty beer can in hand and he’s glad to find Jonny smiling when he enters the kitchen.

“I should go,” Jonny says, when Patrick catches up to him and walks into the kitchen. “I promised Anna we’d spend the evening together.”

Patrick nods, even though inside he’s a little upset Jonny doesn’t want to stay any longer. It’s a step towards what he wants to achieve, though, so he can check taking Jonny out on a coffee date from his check-list.

“Sounds like you guys have quite the evening planned,” Patrick says, in a soft and quiet voice.

“We do,” Jonny acquiesces, grabbing his jacket from the coat hanger. “I’ll tell you all about it when she’s asleep, have a great night, Pat.”

Patrick stands there dumbfounded when Jonny takes a step towards him and presses his cold lips to Patrick’s warm cheek. The flush on Patrick’s cheeks probably doesn’t go unnoticed but he looks up to find Jonny smiling as he struggles with the lock on the door.

“I really had a great time,” Jonny adds when he finally gets the door to open.

Somehow, right after the door closes, Patrick can’t manage to wipe the smile off his face.

*

Patrick drives to work the following Tuesday and he’s still happy. He looks forward to see Jonny, who had confirmed he was doing drop off this morning when they were texting the night before. He walks into the building and sees a couple of the kids from his class sitting with Sharpy on the carpet in his class, surrounded by a bunch of games. Patrick steps into Sharpy’s classroom and a few heads turn, the kids who were playing with Sharpy greeting him with a cheerful “Morning, Kaner,” going back to their games right after, ignoring his presence. That doesn’t keep Patrick from smiling.

Sharpy stands up, leaving Sadie to play with the other kids, and he stands near Patrick’s desk, running a hand through his hair. “You seem…oddly enthusiastic this morning,” Sharpy comments.

Patrick ignores him as he goes to the entrance to wait for the kids to arrive, like he does almost every morning. He helps a little boy with his coat when he hears a familiar voice yelling his name repeatedly.

“Kaner!” Annabelle screeches in a high-pitched voice. She’s running to him, Jonny walking in tow and the brightest smile is splayed onto her face as she reaches Patrick and throws her arms around his neck for a hug.

“Annabelle, good morning,” he replies, overjoyed. “Are you excited for today?” he asks, then, seeing the smile she had on her face instants before still hasn’t faded.

She opts for a shrug, but then nods and goes on about something else. “Kaner,” she exclaims, “Papa said that Saturday in two weeks, the game is a ‘tinée game and he says that I can go!”

Jonny interrupts, snorting. “ _Matinée_ , Anna.”

Annabelle smiles and repeats the word, getting the pronunciation just right this time. “Papa said I can take a friend with me. Do you wanna go with me, Kaner?” She asks, batting her eyelashes and Patrick gives her a look because Annabelle knows just how much he hates saying no to his kids.

“I’d love to,” Patrick tells her nonetheless, helping her with her coat as Jonny stands next to them silently. “Are you sure you don’t want to take a friend instead? You and Sadie seem to have become great friends.”

Annabelle shakes her head furiously. “No, silly, I want to go with you.”

“Alright, kiddo. I’ll be there,” he says, flashing her a grin that she reciprocates instantly. He would have agreed right away anyway. “Come on, go play with the other kids, I’ll see you in our classroom in a few minutes,” he instructs, after they’ve put her coat on the hanger.

“Bye, Papa,” she says, as Patrick watches Jonny kneel to press a kiss on Annabelle’s cheek. “Love you,” she whispers.

“Love you too,” Jonny affirms, watching her walk into the familiar classroom and up to Sadie and the rest of the kids.

Patrick stares at the father-daughter exchange and smiles. He watches as the other kids walk in, leaving him and Jonny alone in the hallway.

“I’ll see you for pick up at 4 o’clock, right?” Patrick inquires, as he sees Jonny standing there with his back to the wall.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Jonny chimes. He watches Patrick snort and he adds, “No, but really. I’ll be there for Anna.”

Patrick doesn’t register the wink he gets from Jonny until he turns to see Jonny walking down the stairs to the parking lot. He feels his cheeks flush but he shuts the doors and walks into his assigned room, seeing all his ten kids sitting on their respective mattresses, awaiting Patrick’s arrival for their morning natter. Patrick sits in his chair and asks every kid how their day is going. When he looks up, he sees Sharpy in the corner of his eye, making hearts with his hands and Patrick really wishes Sharpy was invisible sometimes.

It barely takes two hours before his kids start doing the same thing.

*

By four, Patrick has practically glued his eyes to the window, restlessly awaiting Jonny’s arrival. He blames Annabelle, who wouldn’t stop praising him all day, so he thinks it’s normal to be this eager to see the hockey player at this point. Sharpy doesn’t agree.

“Just admit you like him.”

“Shut up, Sharpy,” Patrick says, before he rolls his eyes and tries to ignore the smirk widening on Sharpy’s lips. “Don’t you have your kids’ parents to bother?”

“No, my last kid left a couple minutes ago, so I’m totally here to watch you and Jonathan Toews make heart eyes at each other,” Sharpy laughs, waltzing into Patrick’s classroom. He immediately makes his way to see Sadie, who greets her dad with a hug.

She and Annabelle are sitting on a large blue mat in the corner, laughing at God knows what, when Sharpy walks up to them.

Annabelle smiles politely at Sharpy before turning to Patrick. “Kaner? When will Papa get here? Soon, right?” She questions, her voice is soft but Patrick still hears it in her voice that she misses Jonny.

He smiles back at her before replying, “I’m sure he’ll be here soon, kiddo. He’s probably nearby, and can’t wait to see you.”

“I miss him. Do you miss him?” She sounds truly curious but that doesn’t change the fact that Patrick can hear Sharpy’s snicker from across the class.

He ultimately does not turn to face him, instead focusing on answering Annabelle’s question. “I do miss him,” he admits. “But, not nearly as much as I’m going to miss you when he comes to take you home,” he adds, reaching forward to tickle her playfully, regaining that smile on her face.

She yelps out a, “Kaner!” but it’s lost in a fit of giggles, as she tries to swat his hand away. Patrick gives it up once he hears the opening and closing of the front doors, signalling another parent’s arrival.

He turns towards his classroom door just as Jonny appears in the threshold. He looks good, a little tired from what Patrick supposes was a team practice, but overall nice. His hair looks freshly combed and he’s wearing a white dress shirt under a navy suit and he left the two buttons at the top undone and Patrick is starting to think Jonny is doing all of this on purpose. Patrick keeps his eyes on Jonny for a few more seconds, his eyes falling on the beauty mark right under his ear. He wonders what it would feel like if he pressed his lips right there and sank his teeth into the skin. Patrick is thankful for Annabelle’s loud screech because he puts that thought back where it belongs and turns to face the wide open door.

“Papa!”

Annabelle is up and running to Jonny in seconds and it makes Patrick smile. He glances towards Sharpy and then immediately regrets it when he notices the lopsided smile on his face, Sadie somehow with a matching one even though she couldn’t possibly have a clue about the situation. Sharpy raises his eyebrows to where Jonny is listening to Annabelle babble as they walk to get her things. He’s silently telling Patrick to go and it takes a while but in the end Patrick does just that.

He walks up to the two and Jonny’s face breaks into a huge grin when he spots Patrick there. It makes Patrick’s stomach flop and he can’t help smiling back, “Hi.”

“Hey, Pat,” Jonny says.

The conversation flows easily as Annabelle wants to prove to Jonny that she’s able to put her coat and her boots on all by herself. Patrick stares at her and back at Jonny, unsure of where he should be looking at because, for a second, both of them are trying to get his attention. It seems to be recurrent with them, Patrick getting distracted by the way Jonny looks and Jonny trying helplessly to get Patrick’s attention.

Patrick doesn’t mean to, but his eyes fall on Annabelle first and when he sees that all she wants is for him to pick her up, he does just that. Before he could turn back and talk to Jonny, a voice booming from behind him interrupts.

“Well, well, well.” Sharpy’s voice is recognizable and Patrick hears his steps as the man walks towards them, draping himself over Patrick’s shoulders. “What’s going on here, Peekaboo?”

Patrick ignores the humourous look on Jonny’s face, turning his head the best he could to glare at Sharpy instead. “Nothing that concerns you, Sharpy.”

Instead of walking away like Patrick had hoped, Sharpy adds more weight on his shoulders while leaning forward to shake Jonny’s hand. “Patrick Sharp. It’s so great to finally meet the infamous Jonny. Big fan.”

Jonny reaches his hand over as well, thanking him. “I didn’t know Kaner talked about me that much.” He’s obviously kidding but Patrick reddens up, knowing exactly how Sharpy will react to that.

“Please,” He starts. “All I ever hear about on our days off is how much of an amazing hockey player you are, how great you are with Annabelle,” Sharpy pauses, looking over at Patrick while stroking at his jaw. “And what’s that thing you said? About his ass?”

Patrick’s eyes widen and he shoves Sharpy to the side, steering him away from Jonny. “That’s it. Time for you to go.”

He doesn’t get very far because as strong as he might be, Sharpy has a few inches on him.

“What’s wrong, Peeks?” Sharpy asks, turning back. “Just wanna get to know our new friend.”

Jonny, who now has Annabelle waiting idly by, laughs. “I’ve wanted to meet you too. Patrick talked a bunch about you.” He smiles and Patrick could melt right there.

“Oh, _did_ he?” Sharpy’s shocked face has Patrick rolling his eyes. It’s not Patrick’s fault that Sharpy’s been there for every single one of Patrick’s cool first date stories.

They laugh and joke around for a bit, before Sadie comes to tug on her dad’s shirt. Sharpy winks at Patrick when he tells them goodbye, picking up his daughter to carry her to get her things. Jonny smiles politely and then turns to Patrick.

Patrick’s sure he’s still red but if Jonny notices, he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he mutters, “I’m glad I finally got to meet one of your friends.” He walks closer to Patrick, so that his breath brushes lightly against the side of Patrick’s neck. “And if it makes you feel any better,” Jonny starts. “I think your ass is pretty great too.”

Patrick stands there speechless, and he stares as Jonny winks and grabs Annabelle as they head to his car. Patrick turns around to see Sharpy standing under the threshold of his classroom, grin splayed on his face as he watches, Sadie standing a few feet behind him with her backpack on her shoulders. Patrick walks past Sharpy to get into his classroom again and when he hears footsteps behind him, he spins around.

“What?” He sighs.

Sharpy sneers. “You guys are gross.”

Patrick smiles to himself because, yeah, they are. He ignores Sharpy and starts cleaning up his classroom. There are worse ways to end a Tuesday, Patrick concludes.

*

It’s only about a week later that Patrick sees Jonny for something else than quick morning drop-offs. Patrick remembers seeing him that morning, holding tightly onto his cup of coffee as Annabelle dragged him down the hall and into Patrick’s class for a quick hello. Patrick is still thinking about it during his break, and as soon as he comes back, the kids in his class start waking up one by one after an hour and a half and he smiles from the kid size couch he’s sitting on, pockets his phone and goes outside the class to help those who need help with their blue mattresses.

It’s quiet, for once, because Patrick’s holding his index fingers up to his lips and they all know that that if they stay silent they get a sweet surprise during the afternoon snack. So Patrick proudly watches them put their blankets and plush toys in their naptime bags before they go back inside the class to fetch their shoes.

Unlike every other day, Annabelle is the last one to wake up. She’s still drooling on the mattress while the other kids are all sat at the table, ready to receive their snack. Patrick smiles as he kneels next to her, rubbing her back and running his fingers through her hair to get her to wake up. It took a few weeks, but Patrick has it all under control now, and Annabelle sleeps the whole hour and a half during nap, but this is the first time she sleeps longer and Patrick worries that something might be wrong. He presses a hand to her forehead and she’s burning up. He wraps her into her blanket but sits her down on her mattress.

“Hi, Annabelle. I know you didn’t want to wake up, but it’s time for snack and all of you get a sweet surprise today. Can you join us at the table, please?” Patrick asks, and he knows to be patient, especially with someone who’s sick.

Annabelle’s easy, though, and she gets up on her feet and sits between Sadie and Bryan. Patrick’s smile widens as he cuts the apples into slices and pours half of the caramel spread bottle into three different bowls. He gives everyone the right amount of apples before even thinking of putting the caramel bowls on the table and all 10 kids put their hands on their legs before eating, like Patrick taught them to at the beginning of September. Patrick eyes Timmy as he tries to eat an apple, but everyone at the table reprimands him so all Patrick has to do is to walk over to Timmy and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Okay guys, let’s sing our snack song and then we can eat. That sound good?”

A chorus of ‘Yes’ sounds and they all start singing, giving Patrick the time to go to the counter and bring out the infamous caramel bowls. He brings them all on a tray, and places them strategically on the table.

“You guys are big now, so I shouldn’t have to warn you about this but I will anyway. This is caramel, it’s very sticky, and I’m sure your parents don’t want you guys to come home with caramel all over your shirts or dresses, right?” he asks, walking around the table.

“Right, Kaner!” they answer in unison.

Patrick grins. “So, paper towels for all of you and I’ll show you how to tuck them into your shirts so you don’t make a mess on your clothes,” he decides, taking paper towels and handing them to all the kids.

After he manages to help everyone, Patrick finally says they can start eating and they all happily start dipping their apple pieces into the caramel. It’s a very quiet snack, compared to the snacks they usually have, because everyone is so busy eating that they don’t talk. That means Patrick has plenty of time to prepare some wet towels for them to wipe their mouths with. He keeps an eye on them from behind the counter, smiles when he sees Sadie and Annabelle feed each other their pieces without dropping any caramel on the table or on their paper towels.

Bryan and Timmy are done with their apples before everyone else so Patrick allows them to get up and grab a wet towel before they both head to the sink to wash their hands. He barely has to argue as he watches them go to the sink together. There’s a little bit of pushing and shoving but Patrick gets them to stop only by glaring at them, so he considers he’s done a good job teaching them so far. The kids start standing up one by one, and once everyone is done, Patrick cleans the table while the kids wash their faces and hands. It doesn’t take long for everyone to finish so Patrick tries to come up with something they all could do before the parents start to arrive, one by one.  

“What’s the profession we talked about this week, guys?” Patrick asks, when they all sit in the reading corner.

Sadie grins and says, “A police officer, Kaner.”

“Very good, Sadie,” Patrick says proudly, as he stands up and grabs a box filled with police related things. “We didn’t get to the fun part, yet,” Patrick adds. He grins when he sees a lot of his kids with their mouth agape, staring at the box in awe. “Now you guys get to be police officers for the rest of the day, alright?”

He sets the box to the floor and helps the kids with their costumes. One of his kids, Max, struggles a lot with his his police hat so Patrick crouches next to him and helps him put it on just right before he pats the kid’s back and helps someone else. There’s a soft knock on the door and everyone’s so focused on imitating the sound of the siren that no one hears it but Patrick. He turns around and sees Jonny standing on the threshold, looking as good as ever, but Patrick forces himself to stop staring after he smiles at Jonny. He tries to get Annabelle out of her costume the best he can, and sighs when he sees that her dress is a little crumpled at the bottom but he leads her to the door nonetheless, watching as the smile on Jonny’s face widens when she runs to him.

“Papa!” she exclaims, throwing herself into her father’s arms.

Patrick is right behind her and he walks to the door to say hi to Jonny but tries to keep an eye on his kids too. “Hey, Pat,” Jonny says.

“Hey,” he answers, “I think Annabelle is coming down with something, she slept the whole nap plus an extra thirty minutes and she had a fever when she woke up. She had a good day aside from that, though; she and Sadie had a lot of fun outside this morning.”

Jonny places a hand on Annabelle’s forehead and sighs, nodding. “Anna, you’re burning up. Are you feeling okay?”

“‘Uh-huh, Papa. Can I go say bye to Sadie now, please?”

Jonny grins. “Sure, Anna.”

Patrick watches as Jonny lets her go and stands tall again. He looks good, a little sweaty, and Patrick wonders if he’s coming back from a run or from the gym. He looks up at Jonny and finds that he’s grinning at Patrick.

“For the game,” Jonny starts talking before Patrick can wonder any longer. “I got you and Anna tickets right up at the glass. She loves those.”

Patrick figures it’s because she gets the full view of Jonny on the ice. Still, his eyes widen as he stares at Jonny.

“Jonny,” He begins to warn. “Those seats are crazy expensive.” Patrick can easily get a headache from imagining how much glass seats at the UC are. “You don’t need to do that.”

Jonny shrugs. “Think of it as a birthday present. It’s not a big deal.”

He tries to brush off Patrick but the blond just shakes his head. “I’ll pay you back.”

Jonny frowns. “That’s not how a present works, Patrick.” He dismisses any of Patrick’s protests with a wave of his hand.

Patrick rolls his eyes, but doesn’t say anything because there’s a tug on his shirt that brings his attention downwards. It’s a little girl from his class, Cassie, and she’s holding out her police costume towards Patrick. Patrick kneels down when he sees the frown on her face, and she lifts the shirt to show a small tear in the material.

Patrick grabs it from her. “Well,” He starts. “I’m sure we can sew that right up and it’ll be as good as new.” He reassures her and when a small smile replaces her frown, Patrick ushers her back into the class. He hears Jonny follow behind him and when he turns back, there’s a smile on his face as well.

“What is it?” Patrick asks.

Jonny huffs. “You’re really good with them, Pat.”

“I sort of have to be, right?” Patrick answers nonchalantly.

Jonny shakes his head. He puts a hand on Patrick’s shoulder and Patrick tenses up. “Goddamnit, Patrick, don’t say that. Just take the fucking compliment, will you?”

Patrick nods solemnly and Jonny’s hand leaves his shoulder. The class is silent after that, and Annabelle says loudly, “That’s 5 whole dollars for the swear jar, Papa. Mamie says it’s a bad word.”

That makes the two grown men laugh as Jonny takes Annabelle’s hand and exits the classroom. He throws a smile in Patrick’s direction before turning around to help with Annabelle’s outdoor shoes. Patrick’s smile doesn’t fade until Sharpy barges into his classroom an hour later to pick up Sadie.

*

Patrick gets asked to work the next day, when he would usually have the day off. He has to replace Karen after she calls in sick, but it doesn’t bother him as much as he thought it would; he misses his kids all the time. They seem ecstatic to see him as well, cheering gleefully when he greets them at the door with their parents. Not too many of his kids end up showing up, so him and Sharpy work their schedules around to fuse their groups together when it comes time to go outside. Some of Sharpy’s kids were still home sick and another left after naptime, so it makes sense. They sit on a bench and watch the kids run around the playground, giggling as they make up games to play. Annabelle is walking around with Timmy today since Abby insisted that Sadie stay home another day in order to not get anyone sick.

Jonny dropped Annabelle off that morning, wanting to do that at least, since he wouldn’t be able to make it this afternoon. He quickly kissed her head and told her he loved her, and then looked at Patrick to ask him how he was. It wasn’t weird, they talk all the time, but Patrick liked that Jonny asked even though he looked to be in a rush.

When her dad did end up leaving, Annabelle started talking to Timmy and they spent the morning colouring together. Now, the two kids are bending down to pick up what Patrick supposes are rocks and they carry a tiny pile around the perimeter, before coming up to where Sharpy and Patrick are sitting.

Sharpy was asking him if he’d watched hockey last night, which of course Patrick did. He had his TV set to switch between the Blackhawks game and the Sabres game, which Sharpy shoots him a look for. Patrick just argues that they’re his home team and therefore a huge part of his life, but Sharpy waves him off with his hand. He focuses on Annabelle and Timmy, and Patrick does the same, watching the kids hold out their hands.

“Look what we found, Kaner,” Annabelle exclaims, a small bundle of rocks sits in the centre of her palm. “This one looks like a heart.”

And sure enough, when Patrick looks at it, he sees the resemblance. He praises her for how cool that is and she beams at him, before showing it to Sharpy and getting the same reaction from him. Timmy stands next to her, a larger rock in his hand.

“Whatcha got there?” Patrick asks him. Sharpy continues to busy Annabelle so Patrick pays his attention to the little blond boy in front of him.

Timmy shrugs. “My Daddy collects rocks like this and I really wanna show him. Could I, please?”

Patrick smiles. One of Timmy’s dads, Dan – the one he calls Daddy – is into fossils and that sort of stuff. It must all look like rocks to Timmy, which it would to any kid, but Patrick thinks his dad would appreciate the gesture nonetheless.

“Sure thing, buddy,” Patrick says, before telling Timmy that he’ll hold onto it while he and Annabelle continue playing.

Patrick sets the rock between him and Sharpy on the table, quietly watching the other kids. He sees a small group surrounding the yellow slide in the corner, and they take turns riding down. It makes him feel at ease, despite the nippy weather that causes him to shiver in his jacket. The kids don’t have a problem with it since they’re constantly moving around, but Patrick has to shove his head deeper into his scarf to keep warmth.

They don’t have to freeze for much longer though, because it’s time to go back in for a snack and allow the class after them to come out to play. Patrick and Sharpy’s kids walk single filed up the stairs to the kindergarten and inside. They shuffle out of their coats and Patrick directs them all into his own classroom. It’s one of the bigger classrooms and they can easily fit the remaining kids in there. Sharpy’s bringing the last kid to sit at one of the tables while Patrick gathers bowls of carrots and sour cream and onion mix. He places a couple on each table, and the kids politely wait until everyone is served to start eating. It’s not too messy but Sharpy and Patrick still keep an eye out for anything.

Throughout the rest of the day, their kids’ parents come and leave, and Patrick and Sharpy take turns talking to their respective parents while the other entertains the kids. When it comes time for Timmy to leave, he grabs his rock that Patrick had sitting on the counter and races to show it to his dad.

“Daddy! Look what I found!”

Patrick follows him to where he runs, smiling and nodding at Dan. Dan greets him, then reaches down to pick up Timmy, whose hand is holding onto the rock.

“It’s just like what you find at work, right?” Timmy asks, excited that he can share this with his dad, and Patrick’s heart melts.

“It sure is, Tim. How about we bring this home to show Papa too?” Dan questions and Timmy’s face lights up. “Let’s go grab your stuff and we’ll head out.”

He and Timmy disappear into the hall, chattering away about them seeing Timmy’s other dad soon. Patrick glances back into the reading corner, where Sharpy’s got the last two kids sitting with him. They’re in a circle and Sharpy holds out the book in front of him to act out the story for them in funny voices. When Sharpy locks eyes with him, Patrick just smirks and shoots him a thumbs up, which gets him a glare back. It makes Patrick chuckle while he exits the class to say goodbye to Timmy and his dad. Dan is finishing to secure his son’s shoe on when Patrick gets to them, and then gets up to eye level.

“Goodbye, Kaner!” Timmy smiles a toothy grin at him, his curls falling over his eyes as his dad fits a hat over his head.

Patrick laughs. “Bye, Timmy. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He leans down to hug him, and then tickle his stomach, the little boy screeching of laughter when he pulls away.

Dan thanks him. He grabs ahold of Timmy’s hand and together they pass through the large blue doors in the front of the kindergarten building. Patrick sees Timmy looking over his shoulder as they walk off, and gives him one last wave, which makes Timmy laugh again for no reason.

Back inside his class, he finds himself a seat in the reading circle, between Annabelle and Andy. They giggle as he sits down, which makes Patrick confused but he’s been around kids long enough to know that sometimes you just don’t understand them. Sharpy ends up getting through a full book and a half by the time Annabelle’s nanny knocks on the door, five minutes before Andy’s mom shows up as well. They all discuss the kids and what they could expect to see in the little notes Patrick had scribbled quickly in all the notebooks. Patrick and Sharpy wave goodbye and then make it back to their classrooms to clean up quickly. He declines Sharpy’s offer to hang out, swearing that he needs to relax, and Sharpy doesn’t press, probably being just as tired. Patrick hopes he can sleep a bit tonight, knowing that he’ll just need to wake up early again for work tomorrow. He’s already not looking forward to it.

*

The remainder of the week goes by so fast Patrick doesn’t even realize it’s Friday until he asks Sadie to move the arrow on their calendar. Every day, he gives a different kid the chance to move the arrow to the right date because he knows just how much they enjoy it. They’re doing their daily natter when Bryan starts talking about how he watched a movie about dinosaurs that has all the kids stare at him with wide eyes, curious to hear every detail of the movie. Annabelle sits on Patrick’s lap, insisting that it’s her turn to sit on his lap this morning.

Patrick takes the kids outside after Bryan finishes his dinosaur story and as he helps them put their coats on, Patrick watches in awe as Bryan gets two other kids to make dinosaur noises with him as they get in line. Once all of them are ready, Patrick leads them outside and lets them run around as much as they want, knowing that it’ll be easier for them to fall asleep if they’re all worn out.

It turns out Patrick’s infallible plan works and as soon as his kids lay their heads on their respective mattresses, they’re out like a light. Even Annabelle falls asleep, Patrick still caressing her back when her breathing stills. He gets up slowly, careful not to make any noise and he goes to each kid’s bag to grab their notebook where he tells the parents how well their kids have behaved. He makes sure to leave an extra note with a smiley face sticker in Annabelle’s book next to the nap column.

When he’s done with all the small books, Patrick knows he has a few minutes to spare before some kids from Sharpy’s group start waking up so he goes to the office and he prints some dinosaur drawings that he’ll take out after the afternoon snack, before parents start showing up. He prints a drawing of Jonny for Annabelle, a princess for Sadie and a drawing of an alligator for Timmy and when he’s got them all, he heads to the door before he’s apostrophized by Sharpy.

“Spoiling your kids again?” he asks, nodding at the various sheets Patrick is carrying. “You know, you could have them play with puzzles instead.”

Patrick snorts. “Maybe that’s why my kids love me. Even your kid loves me, don’t kid yourself, Sharpy. We play with puzzles sometimes, but drawing helps develop their creativity and they love that shit.”

That shuts Sharpy up long enough for Patrick to get back to his classroom and shut the door. Patrick looks at his friend through the window encrusted into the door and Sharpy makes sure all the kids are asleep before giving him the finger.

Patrick 1, Sharpy 0. It’s nice, for a change.

*

Four o’clock gets there faster than anticipated and the kids are still drawing when the first parent arrives. There’s a soft knock against the door, and Patrick looks up only to be met with Jonny’s grin and gorgeous brown eyes. Annabelle is too focused on coloring Jonny’s jersey in red to see that he just arrived and stands on the threshold. Patrick pokes at her shoulders a few times and asks her to guess who just arrived but Annabelle outsmarts him and puts the lid on the marker she was using before she runs to Jonny as he kneels to her height.

“Are you ready to go home, Anna?” Jonny asks, his voice sweet and light.

Annabelle beams at him but she shakes her head. “I want Kaner to come home for dinner, Papa.”

“Well, did you invite him?” he retorts, smiling up at Patrick.

“Not yet, Papa,” Annabelle says, turning to Patrick. “Kaner, do you want to eat dinner with me and Papa? We’re having ‘ghetti and meatballs.”

Patrick looks at Annabelle and then shifts his glance to Jonny who gives him an approving nod. “Spaghetti and meatballs, huh? I’d love to eat with you and Jonny, kiddo.”

Annabelle hugs Patrick and when she pulls back from the hug, Jonny says, “We’ll have to wait until everyone leaves, though. Kaner still has to take care of the other kids until their parents get here. Is it okay if I come back to get you later, and then we’ll leave with Kaner?” He whispers the last part when he sees a kid walking towards them.

“Yes, Papa, thank you,” Annabelle says, nodding frantically.

Patrick waves at Jonny as he leaves and watches happily as Annabelle goes back to her drawing. He sits on his spinning chair at the end of the table and watches as Bryan waves his completed dinosaur drawing and begs Patrick to write his name at the bottom to hang it up with the others. As he does so, he writes a few more names on more drawings from his kids that he ends up showing off to the parents that walk into the classroom, one after the other.

It gets quieter after fifteen minutes, when the only people left in the class are the two twins, and Sadie and Annabelle. The twins’ nanny arrives, half an hour late as usual and makes up an excuse as to why she couldn’t be there on time. The twins groan when they see her standing below the doorframe and Patrick lets out a silent snicker which makes Annabelle giggle as she keeps her eyes onto the drawing. Patrick politely walks the nanny out of the room, followed by the twins and he goes back to the room, letting her deal with their coats so he can focus on Annabelle and Sadie.

The two little girls continue to color the leftover drawings that scatter the table in front of them, giggling every so often. Patrick sits with them after a few seconds, dropping a glance at the sheets of paper. He’s not exactly shocked when it becomes clear that they can draw much better than Patrick can already, even though he’d never admit it.

Sharpy drops by after a few minutes, calling for Sadie. She makes sure to cap all the markers she was using and place them back neatly into the box, to which Patrick makes sure to thank her for.

“You’re welcome, Uncle Pat,” Sadie says, with a toothy smile. She hops off her chair to go grab her backpack and coat, while Sharpy waits for her in the classroom.

“Kaner, can Papa come get us now? Everyone’s gone,” Annabelle says, too low for anyone outside the room to decipher. Unluckily for Patrick, Sharpy is still in hearing range.

“Where are you two off to?” He inquires, using a sweet voice directed towards Annabelle. Patrick can still see the glint in his eyes that is definitely meant for him though.

Patrick keeps his mouth shut while Annabelle looks up at Sharpy excitedly. “Kaner’s coming over for dinner with me and Papa!” She exclaims, clearly missing the way Sharpy’s face lights up as he looks at Patrick.

Sharpy’s eyebrows stay shot up as Sadie saunters back into the room, bundled up and ready to leave. She runs over to hug Patrick goodbye and waves to Annabelle, who smiles widely back.

Sharpy comes up to stand in front of Patrick and squints his eyes. “This isn’t over, Peeks.” He doesn’t linger, just reaches for Sadie’s hand and walks out the class.

Patrick watches them disappear down the hall before turning back to Annabelle, who’s gathering the sheets of paper on the table into a small pile. He helps by placing the lid on the box of markers and grabs the pile of papers from Annabelle when she holds it out for him.

She sits quietly while Patrick carries the box to the closet in the corner of the room. Once he’s made his way back to her, she looks up hopefully.

“Can we go now, Kaner?”

Patrick grins at her. “I think I can see your Papa waiting in the car now. Do you want to help me clean the rest of the classroom and then we can go surprise him?” he suggests, watching Annabelle’s eyes light up at the proposition.

“Uh-huh, Papa loves surprises,” she says, smiling widely.

Together, Patrick and Annabelle manage to clean the room in record time and as they walk out, Annabelle stands on the tip of her toes to turn the light off. He helps Annabelle put her backpack on and he carries her nap bundle while holding Annabelle’s hand with his other hand.

They walk to Jonny’s car, and Patrick watches as Jonny unbuckles his seatbelt and gets out of the car to walk in their direction.

“You didn’t tell me she was the only kid left,” Jonny says, frowning. “I could’ve helped her with her coat and bags, Pat.”

Patrick shrugs, “She said you loved surprises, I couldn’t say no. Plus, Sharpy just left with Sadie a couple minutes ago.”

Jonny nods, scooping Annabelle up as he walks to the back of the car where he throws her bags in the backseat and helps her into her car seat. Patrick stares as they converse in a language he doesn’t understand and takes a seat in the passenger seat and he’s envious of Jonny for a second because both of his cars have comfortable seats.

Patrick buckles his seatbelt in and when Jonny shuts Annabelle’s car door, he turns to face her and says, “You comfortable back there, Bells?”

Annabelle’s reply is a short and high-pitched, “Yup!”

*

The drive to Jonny’s house is shorter than Patrick expected. It’s only a twenty minute drive from his workplace and Patrick spends it bickering with Jonny and listening to Annabelle as she attempts to sing along to the songs that are playing despite Jonny’s terrible music taste.

“You got her into this too?” Patrick groans, shaking his head.

“Into what?” Jonny asks, not shifting his eyes from the road ahead of them.

“This.” He waves at the radio. “This awful music. If you can even call it that.”

Jonny turns to pull into his driveway before replying, “Are you going to belittle my music taste every time I give you a ride?”

Patrick wastes no time in answering, “Probably.” He looks out his window as the car halts to a stop.

The house they’ve pulled up to is a fairly-sized one with a real-life picket fence because _of course_ Jonny has a fucking picket fence. It’s got trees that adorn the front lawn with what seems to be a small flower garden on the left of the house. After Jonny helps Annabelle out of her car seat and onto the gravel driveway, she grabs Patrick’s hand and leads him up the cement staircase to the large mahogany doors. Annabelle leans up to peer through the mail slot and cheers when she spots some envelopes on the hallway carpet.

“Papa, hurry, we got mail!” She calls out to Jonny, who is just now ascending the stairs.

Jonny laughs, “Sure, bills are _very_ exciting, Anna.” He makes eye contact with Patrick, who just laughs when Annabelle doesn’t understand the sarcasm.

Jonny fishes for his keys and unlocks the door, allowing Annabelle to get in first. She pulls Patrick in along with her and instructs him where to put his shoes, then does the same thing with her own.

They haven’t gotten more than six steps into the house when Annabelle whirls around and surprises Patrick. “Do you wanna see my room, Kaner?”

Patrick nods his head, “Sure thing, kiddo.” He turns to where Jonny is placing Annabelle’s things and the mail down, before making his way to the kitchen. “You need help with anything, Jonny?”

Jonny glances back and shakes his head. “No, I’m just gonna prepare some stuff now, then start cooking later. Go have fun.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure, Kaner. Go,” he insists.

Patrick grins at the use of the nickname and faces Annabelle, who’s tugging his hand up the long wooden staircase in the front of the house. Patrick walks up the stairs with her and once they reach the second floor, she leads him into the first door on the right. She gets onto a bright red stool and turns on the light.

The first thing Patrick sets his eyes on is the small bed in the farthest corner of the room. He walks towards it and sits on it while Annabelle does the same thing. She starts explaining just about anything that Patrick can find in her room, starting by the books that lay in the bookshelf on his right. She explains that the french books are kept on the top shelf because when Jonny’s there, those are the ones they read together. Right under those lay the english books, and Annabelle insists that those are the ones she reads with the nanny when she takes care of her while Jonny is on the road.

Annabelle stops talking for a second and then she sits on her bed, silently. Patrick stands up next to her and gives her a small smile.

“We could read a story before dinner’s ready, or do you want to color instead? Your Papa told me you have a bunch of coloring books,” he tells her.

Patrick knows he said the right thing just then because Annabelle’s eyes glisten and she turns to him and announces, “Pat, I love to color.”

She gets up and shows Patrick a pile of coloring books with a box filled with markers and she brings them to the small table adjacent to the door. Patrick kneels next to Annabelle since the tiny wooden chair she’s currently sitting in is so little Patrick’s afraid he’ll break it if he even thinks about sitting on it. He takes out a blue marker and he starts filling in a drawing of a sea horse.

Annabelle fishes out a red marker and Patrick isn’t really surprised when she flips the pages of her coloring book and every drawing is a sea of red. Patrick wonders why she doesn’t use any other colors but taking another glance around the room pretty much answers that question for him. Aside from the walls and the few furniture in the room, everything else is red. The bed sheets, the pillows, the carpet, the curtains, the night light and the list goes on.

“Hey Bells,” he says, when he’s halfway done with his drawing. “Don’t you think you could add some blue to your drawing? Look at how cool mine looks.”

Annabelle shifts her glance from her drawing to Patrick’s and her eyes widen. “That looks super cool, Patrick. Gimme,” she says, holding her hand out for the blue marker.

A cough makes them both look up. Jonny is standing there with an actual apron on and a cute grin on his face, watching the two of them interact.

“Anna,” he reprimands. “What’s a nicer way to ask Kaner for the marker?”

Annabelle frowns but when Jonny keeps his laser eyes on her, she asks him properly. “Kaner, give me the marker, please.”

“Fair enough,” Jonny shrugs.

Patrick swaps markers with Annabelle and goes back to his sea horse drawing. He’s well aware of Jonny’s presence while he still lingers at the doorway.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Jonny speaks up after a beat. “Dinner’s ready. You guys can come down whenever, I’ll start preparing the plates.”

Patrick nods and Annabelle pushes out of her chair and leaves the marker on the table. She tries running out of her room but Jonny’s imposing silhouette blocks her halfway.

“Anna,” Jonny warns, then adds something in French and once he moves from the doorway, Annabelle makes a right turn instead of heading for the stairs. Patrick immediately understands what Jonny meant at that moment. He turns off the light and follows Jonny downstairs, where he washes his own hands before helping Jonny bring the plates to the dining room table.

Annabelle comes bouncing down the stairs a few seconds later and Patrick finds himself saying, “Don’t run down the stairs,” just as Jonny opens his mouth to reprimand her for the same thing. A blush creeps on his cheeks but Patrick sits down at the table and remains silent until Jonny sits down in front of him.

“That was oddly domestic,” Jonny comments as he starts cutting Annabelle’s pasta and meatballs.

Patrick shrugs. “Force of habit. I say it pretty much every single day so it becomes automatic, you know.”

Jonny hums, but he holds Patrick’s glance as he smiles at him quirkily.

In between bites, Annabelle keeps interrupting the conversation Patrick tries to keep with Jonny and pipes up anecdotes that happened during the day. Patrick grins at her because he remembers all of them but when Jonny demands more details, Patrick is usually the one that answers because Annabelle only memorizes the key elements. It stays like that for the entirety of the meal, but Patrick has to admit that this is the most fun he’s had at dinner in a long time. He helps Jonny bring the plates and glasses to the dishwasher while Annabelle starts humming a song. He offers to help Jonny for the dishes but Jonny shakes his head.

“No, Patrick. You’re the guest,” he says, scowling.

Patrick ignores him, rinsing a few bowls and adding dish soap before he scrubs the dirt with a sponge.

Jonny sighs in disbelief. “Pat—”

Patrick disagrees. “Go play with your kid, Jon, I got this,” he says, knowing the look he gives his kids probably won’t work on Jonny but trying it anyway.

Jonny’s out of the room in seconds and Patrick smiles to himself as he finds the scrubbing brushes under the sink and gets started on the dishes.

*

After Patrick rinses off the last plate and places it in the rack to dry, he makes his way to the hall, listening for any sign as to where Jonny and Annabelle have gone. It takes all but two seconds before Patrick hears her shriek of laughter coming from the living room, and he makes his way there. He spots the two of them huddled on the floor together, a puzzle laid askew before them. Annabelle laughs again at something Jonny says and then looks up to see Patrick standing at the doorway, his arms crossed on his chest, flashing her a smile nonetheless.

“Kaner! Come help!” She calls out, a wide, toothy smile on display. To her left, Jonny smiles a similar one, the resemblance between the two being fairly conspicuous.

Patrick wastes no time striding towards them and plopping down on the floor, cross-legged. He turns to Annabelle, who is now enthralled by the puzzle in front of her. It’s a simple forty piece, one someone like Jonny or Patrick could finish in ten minutes, but Patrick is enjoying watching her concentrate on fitting in the pieces inside of her hands.

He does sometimes pull a puzzle out of the cabinets in his classroom, but rarely as much as Sharpy says he should. They supplied him with the twenty-four pieces ones, which do not require all ten kids on at the same time. This would mean Patrick splitting up into at least two or three groups and he’d have to be running back and forth to help the kids who would be demanding his assistance when the pieces wouldn’t fit. Patrick just thinks colouring is much easier, and his kids are definitely not repudiating him.

Annabelle only gets frustrated a couple times though and always looks to Jonny for help. He only gives her an encouraging nod before saying, “You can do it, Anna.”

They sit like that for a while, Patrick leaning back onto the foot of the couch and laughing when Annabelle makes a joke because he’s got to admit that she’s so funny. Jonny catches glances with him, every so often that Annabelle leans down to place a puzzle piece, and Patrick all but tells Jonny that his kid is way cooler than he is.

Sometime later, Annabelle finishes off the last piece and begins cheering excitedly. “Papa, look I did it!” She jumps onto Jonny’s lap and twists around to face Patrick as well. “Isn’t it the best, Kaner?”

Patrick laughs, “It’s beautiful, Bells. I love it.” He leans forward with a fist, and Annabelle giggles before coming in with her own to complete the fist bump.

Patrick watches as she climbs out of Jonny’s hold and waddles towards him, her height benefiting her to put her lips close to his ear as she whispers, “Do you think we can go get some hot cocoa, Pat?”

Patrick looks up to see Jonny laughing silently, clearly having heard what she asked. “Why don’t we ask your Papa and see what he says?”

“Nooooo, Papa doesn’t let me have sweets this close to bedtime,” She argues. “He says it won’t let me sleep.”

Annabelle looks at Patrick with a frown, before Jonny says, “How about, since you’ve been on your best behavior today, I allow it this once and we push back your bedtime to 8:30?”

Right as he says this, her head whips around quickly. “Really?” She asks, skeptical at first.

Jonny nods his head, reassuring her, and replies, “Patrick’s here to hang out with us, so I can make an exception.”

Annabelle claps her hands together and turns to hug Patrick. “See, Kaner? This is why you should stay with us all the time!”

Her voice is full of delight and Patrick can’t help but laugh as he kneels down to her height. “You sure you won’t get tired of me, though? All those hours together in one day?”

“I could never get tired of you, Kaner!”

*

Patrick suggests the coffee shop that he and Jonny went to for their first date and he ignores the faint smile on Jonny’s lips as he turns on the car. Annabelle is in the backseat, blabbing on about marshmallows. Jonny squints his eyes at her talking about the extra sugar added but doesn’t comment, keeping his gaze on the road instead.

However, when they’ve entered the cozy little shop and Annabelle squeals with happiness, Patrick is sure he can spot the moment that Jonny gives in. They walk towards the counter and Annabelle attempts to peer over it by standing on her tippy toes. The young girl working there—Laurie, from her name tag—is kind, and leans down to listen to Annabelle ordering her hot cocoa, which she does all on her own.

Laurie looks amused and punches it into the register before looking up at Jonny and Patrick. They each order their own, comparingly boring cups of coffee, and she rings the total up. Jonny reaches to slide his wallet out of his back pocket but Patrick stops him with a hand to his wrist.

“I got it,” Patrick assures. “It’s the least I can do in comparison to the cost of the ticket.”

Jonny raises an eyebrow. “Pat, I told you already, that was your birthday gift.”

“Still, I don’t mind paying for this,” Patrick argues, wanting to do something for Jonny. He watches Annabelle out of the corner of his eye, and sees her watching intently as the worker in the back prepares her hot chocolate. “Let me do this for you and Bells.”

Jonny looks hesitant, and still has his hand down his back pocket holding his wallet. He slowly retracts his hand though, letting out a huff. “Fine.”

Patrick smiles because _victory_ and turns to hand Laurie the money to cover the cost. She grabs it with an amused expression and calculates the change to give back. She disappears for a couple seconds before returning with Annabelle’s cup and Jonny’s and Patrick’s orders. Laurie hands Annabelle’s hers, warning her to be careful before Jonny or Patrick have the chance to, and then comes over to give the two of them theirs.

She’s just about to hand Patrick his cup when she says, “I remember when my boyfriend used to pay for everything. It was cute at first but after a while you’re just like is he ever going to let me treat him to something? But don’t worry, he grew out of it.” She winks at Patrick, bids them a good day, and walks over to the next customers.

Patrick stands there, dumbfounded. He looks to Jonny, who is sporting the same expression, before he starts laughing. He’s not laughing at anything funny, just at the fact that someone called them ‘boyfriends’ when he and Jonny have only been on that one date. Sure, they talk most days and Jonny never leaves the city without sending Patrick a dumb text, but they’ve never discussed the extent of this relationship. God, they haven’t even truly kissed yet.

The two men don’t acknowledge her comment any further, walking to where Annabelle is happily blowing on her drink to cool it off. She reaches her hand out to Jonny, who grabs it in his own, and the three walk to the terrasse outside the shop. They find a small round table, and Patrick sits on one of the plastic chairs with Annabelle to his left and Jonny to his right. For the first couple minutes, the conversation is light, and the two adults laugh as some of Annabelle’s now cooled drink dribbles down her chin. She just giggles along and Patrick swears it’s so fucking cute and he wishes he could take a picture to prove to anyone that Jonny has the cutest fucking kid.

Jonny helps Annabelle clean up her face and she smiles and thanks him, focusing her attention on Patrick now.

“Kaner, are you excited for the game tomorrow?” She questions, continuing to pick out the marshmallows will a plastic spoon.

Patrick pretends to think it over before saying, “I am. Aren’t you?”

She practically beams and looks proudly at Jonny before saying, “Yes! Papa’s the best! He always scores lots when I go to the game!”

Patrick has heard her praise Jonny before and it never fails to make Patrick smile, because watching how much Annabelle loves her dad is enough to kill him. She gets that glint in her eyes, similar to her father’s when he talks about hockey and she could talk about how good Jonny is for hours and Patrick would be a fool not to admire that.

“You must be his good luck charm then,” Patrick points out.

Annabelle gasps at the idea and circles around to repeat it to Jonny. “You hear that, Papa? I’m your good luck charm!”

Jonny laughs and nods his head in agreement. “Well, it’s a good thing you’re coming tomorrow then, I’m gonna need all the luck I can get,” He adds, and even though Patrick’s sure he doesn’t need it because he’s just _that_ good, he probably just enjoys the thought of Annabelle in the arena so much.

They sit and finish their treats before Jonny checks his watch and proclaims, “Alright, time to go. You have to sleep, Anna _._ ”

Annabelle’s about to protest but seems to realize that her bedtime already got pushed an hour, so she allows Jonny to lift her up as Patrick grabs their waste to throw out. They head to Jonny’s car and Patrick can see Annabelle’s body begin to deflate as her exhaustion catches up with her. Jonny places her into her car seat and her eyes flutter closed as he leans in to kiss her on her forehead. Patrick and Jonny climb in as well and try their best to whisper to each other in hopes of not disturbing Annabelle’s in the backseat.

When they reach the house, Jonny lifts Annabelle’s out of her seat and she starts coming to, looking around before her gaze lands on Patrick and she exclaims, “Kaner! You’re still here!”

Patrick’s mouth breaks into a smile.

“‘Course I am, couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to my best girl,” he says, using the tips of his fingers to tickle Annabelle.

Annabelle bursts into a fit of giggles and loosens her grip around Jonny’s neck before she begs Jonny to be put down and runs to tackle Patrick’s legs into a meaningful hug. “I can’t believe you’re still here, this is the best day ever!” She yells, eyeing Patrick and Jonny as she says that.

Patrick sees Annabelle yawn and he takes her hand and they both follow Jonny inside, Patrick carefully shutting the door behind him. Patrick almost forgets to take his shoes off but the look Annabelle gives him makes him remember and he follows her up the stairs after putting his shoes away, assuming she’s going to her room to get dressed into her pajamas.

After the two enter her room, Annabelle quickly climbs onto the stool and turns the light on, then runs to the bed to grab her pajamas from under the pillow. Unlike everything in her room, her pajamas are pink, with princesses on them and Patrick can’t help but smile as he watches as Annabelle tries to take her dress off without asking Patrick for help. He unzips the back of the dress and helps her out of it, telling her when to lift her arms up and then to stick her legs out to help him out as he tries sliding the pajama bottoms up her legs.

The top is harder to put on for both of them because Annabelle tries sticking her head out of the wrong hole and makes a fuss when she realizes her head won’t fit. Patrick uses his best soothing voice to get her to calm down, and together they slowly move her head from the sleeve to the hem of the shirt. When they finish, Annabelle gives Patrick a content grin.

“Thank you, Kaner!” She leans up to press a kiss on his cheek and exits her room and runs to the bathroom next door. Patrick is still sitting there, stunned, when she comes back, Jonny in tow.

Jonny grabs a French book from the shelf and he sits on the bed, next to Patrick. Even though it’s a pretty small bed, they manage to make it work. Annabelle gets under the covers and she grabs the bunny from the bed, hugging it tightly as she peppers it with kisses.

“Are you ready, Anna? We’re reading a french book, just like we do every night but if you keep being on your best behavior, maybe we’ll get to have Patrick read you an english one too,” Jonny suggests, his eyes searching for Patrick’s as soon as the words escape his mouth. Patrick doesn’t have any objections with that and he lets Jonny know.

“‘M ready, Papa,” Annabelle mumbles, her words muffled by the way she’s biting on the plush toy’s ear.

Jonny nods and begins.

Patrick doesn’t understand much but he still watches them, a smile visible on his lips despite the obvious furrow of his eyebrows. He catches a few words here and there, and stifles a laugh when Jonny tries to impersonate a villain and fails miserably. Annabelle erupts into another fit of giggles and Patrick’s first instinct is to smile, thinking about how easy it’ll be to put her to sleep after that. Jonny finishes the story rapidly and Annabelle asks a handful of questions about it, switching to English so Patrick can understand. Patrick is very thankful for that.

He stands up and offers to put the book back in the bookshelf, before kneeling in front of it to get to the lower shelf where he finds the english books. He scans the whole row and as soon as his eyes fall on The Little Mermaid, he grins because there’s simply no way you can go wrong when you pick a classic.

Turning back towards Annabelle, Patrick says, “How does that sound, Bells?” He’s holding the book so she can see what he’s talking about.

Jonny is the one who replies in lieu of the grinning toddler. “That’s one of her favorites. Nice choice.”

“I just know these things,” Patrick braggingly tells Jonny, shrugging. He turns to Annabelle. “Let’s get started, it’s getting late and I want you to get a good night’s sleep.”

Patrick doesn’t notice how father-like that sounds until he feels Jonny’s eyes on him as he opens the book and holds it up for Annabelle to see the images before he begins. He doesn’t meet his eyes and starts the story. Patrick tries harder than he usually does to nail the voices and he’s not quite sure whether he’s doing that for Annabelle or if he’s doing it to impress Jonny, but either way he knows he’s doing a fucking great job. He takes a few seconds to breathe when he flips the pages, showing Annabelle the various images before continuing on. He finishes the story faster than anticipated but he’s happy nonetheless because Annabelle’s slowly rubbing at her bleary eyes with her hands, showing more signs of tiredness than when she fell asleep shortly in the car.

Patrick stands up from the bed to let Jonny bid his daughter good night as he stands awkwardly on the side of the bed, staring at them with his lips splitting up into a wide smile. He’s about to follow Jonny out of the bedroom when Annabelle’s high-pitched voice speaks up.

“Aren’t you gonna kiss me good night, Kaner?” she inquires, lips forming a full pout.

Patrick turns around and says, with a faux gasp, “Silly me, how could I forget?” And he siddles to the bed and leans down to kiss Annabelle’s forehead and ruffle her hair a little. “Night, kiddo.”

“Night,” comes the reply, muffled by the bed cover this time. Annabelle moves her head from under the covers to pipe up another query. “Are you gonna be here when I wake up?”

Her voice is small and hushed and Patrick tries really hard to think of a way to say no to her but it has already been a few months yet he still has no idea how to refuse Annabelle Toews anything. Patrick offers her a grin.

“Count on it, kiddo,” he affirms. “Only if you sleep, though. Close those eyes for me and I promise that when you wake up, I’ll be here.”

She nods and in mere seconds, her head is placed against the pillow and her eyes are shut tight, ready to sleep. She’s never done it this fast, Patrick wants to consider keeping this technique.

For real, this time, Patrick follows Jonny out of the room as he shuts the light behind them and turns on the night light. Jonny tells him to leave the door open and to follow him downstairs where they can talk without having to whisper so much. Patrick enters the living room and accepts Jonny’s offer of a glass of water and they both sit on the couch in silence for a few minutes. It takes three minutes for Patrick to break the silence. Patrick doesn’t think he’s ever been this quiet.

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay over?” he asks, facing Jonny. “It’s just so hard to say no to your kid, you know.”

Jonny smiles. “I’ve got enough rooms, Pat, it’s fine, really,” he says, taking a sip of water. “I’d already planned for you to stay, anyway,” he adds, the last part coming a beat later.

“Thanks for having me. I’d rather be here than at home on my own. Tonight was a lot of fun,” Patrick says, adding to the conversation.

Jonny turns to the TV and it opens up to the NHL Network where Patrick supposes Jonny keeps up with all the hockey news there is. Patrick doesn’t miss the way Jonny’s upper lip twitches upwards when they mention the Blackhawks and their current seven game winning streak. He also thinks there are better moments to announce that the team he’s been rooting for his whole life are the Buffalo Sabres. Patrick keeps that information sealed until the third date, at least. The TV turns black before a commercial starts and Jonny stands up to get himself another glass of water.

“You nervous?” Patrick asks, when Jonny comes back to sit down next to him, their thighs in close proximity.

Jonny shrugs. “There’s always stress before games, I guess,” Jonny says, his eyes meeting Patrick’s after a second. “It’s just that whenever Anna’s in the crowd, it makes me freak out, you know. I want to make her proud and in order to do that, I gotta be the best out there.”

Patrick places his hand on Jonny’s thigh and Jonny doesn’t even flinch. “Hey,” Patrick says, trying to stop Jonny amidst his train of thoughts. “You’re out there doing the best you can and Bells is proud of you no matter if you score or not. Dude, there are no numbers on a scale from one to a million that are enough to describe how proud of you Bells is. The kids in my class are always impressed whenever she talks about you because she speaks so highly of you in the few words she knows. Don’t stress too hard, Jon.”

“Thanks, Pat.” Jonny puts his hand on top of Patrick’s hand and he squeezes it. “You know, it’s nice to hear that. I really wanna make her proud. That’s all that matters.”

Patrick grins and they both shift their attention back on the TV where they’re showing highlights of the games going on right now, their hands still touching because neither of them feels like moving. Patrick feels himself squeal internally when he sees that the Sabres are leading 5-0 against the Stars. He doesn’t let Jonny know as he takes another sip of water. It stays silent for a bit as the TV grasps their attention and has them not taking their eyes off the screen for a good fifteen minutes.

Patrick stops staring at the screen as soon as the game ends and he decides to stare at Jonny instead. Jonny’s still focused on the TV, his lips pursed a little as he glares at the screen. His eyes are really dark, Patrick notices as he looks at them up close and there are a few scars on Jonny’s face on which Patrick’s eyes linger for too long. Jonny turns to face him at some point and Patrick doesn’t even realize it until he blinks his eyes open again and meets Jonny’s eyes up close.

Patrick doesn’t really know who makes the first move because it all happens so fast, but one minute they’re both sitting awkwardly on their respective side of the couch and the other, Patrick has his tongue in Jonny’s mouth. It’s messy but so great at the same time, Patrick’s hands on Jonny’s hips as they kiss desperately on the couch. The kiss deepens and somehow softens too as Jonny brings his hands up to Patrick’s face, cups his cheeks and tilts Patrick’s head to the side, all of that without detaching his lips from Patrick’s. It’s the best kiss Patrick has had in a long time and honestly, he’s glad he gets to share it with Jonny.

They break it off after a minute or so, and sit back down on the couch, this time closer. Patrick is staring at the large screen in front of him, something on TV catching his eye, but he feels Jonny watching him from the corner of his eyes and cocks an eyebrow in Jonny’s direction.

“That was,” Patrick breathes, “Pretty fucking awesome.”

“Yeah?” Jonny asks, unsure.

Patrick’s not about to tell him that it’s one of the best kisses he’s had in awhile so he shrugs and says, “Yeah, Jonny.”

Jonny looks at him for a second, like he’s thinking of something, but he drops Patrick’s glance and starts zapping through the various hockey channels he owns, looking for highlights or hockey of some sort. Patrick nudges Jonny’s thigh with his own and grins, his tongue licking at his bottom lip swiftly. He’s happy when Jonny puts the remote down and looks right back at him.

“Kiss me again,” Patrick says, and he’s not exactly begging, he just really wants Jonny to kiss him again. He already misses Jonny’s lips against his own and it’s barely been over 10 minutes.

“Yeah?” his voice echoes the same thing he said only a few instants before.

Patrick snorts, his hand on Jonny’s thigh again, hoping he’ll catch on. “Yeah, just kiss me, Jonny.”

It’s even better than the kiss they’ve shared before, slower and sweeter. They start slow, Jonny’s lips closed together as he leans in to kiss Patrick, the softest peck left on Patrick’s plump lips, and then it escalates. Patrick dips his tongue into Jonny’s mouth and hums when Jonny’s tongue brushes against his, Patrick’s eyes falling completely shut. They kiss like that for what feels like hours, smiling when Patrick feels Jonny’s cold fingers brushing against the skin of his hips, pulling back for air every few minutes.

Jonny presses his lips to Patrick’s one last time, letting it linger for a while before pulling back from the kiss at the same time as the buzzer for the third period of the Jets-Kings game sounds.

“It’s getting late, we should get some sleep,” Jonny says, running a hand through his hair. “Fair warning, though, Anna’s been having trouble sleeping recently so she might wake up early in the morning. If you hear anything, go back to sleep and I’ll handle it.”

“We should,” Patrick agrees. “That’s totally understandable, especially at her age. I take it by the look on your face that you’re not a morning person?”

Jonny laughs. “Not at all. Seriously, sometimes she wakes up before the sun is up and I try to convince her that there’s still time to sleep but nothing works. She has too much energy and she jumps on my bed and I’m almost crawling out of my bed to get myself a cup of coffee.”

“That bad?” Patrick asks, suddenly feeling bad for him especially since Jonny said he’s not a morning person. “I mean I don’t have a kid so I don’t know if it would work but maybe you can try and have her sleep in your bed, try and rub her back to get her to fall asleep again? I try that with some the kids during naptime – Annabelle included – and the back rubbing usually does the trick.”

Jonny smiles. “I’m all for new tricks. Thanks Pat,” he says, hand warm on Patrick’s thigh. Patrick notices how Jonny lets it linger for a few more seconds and Patrick can’t wipe the smile off his face after that.

Out of the blue, Jonny stands up and gets both empty glasses to the sink. He turns around and looks at Patrick from afar. Patrick feels his insides melt as he simply returns the glance.

“You coming up? I’ll get you all set up in one of the guest rooms.”

Patrick nods but hesitates for a moment, waiting for the commercial before he turns the TV off and follows Jonny upstairs. The first guest room he walks into is dark, the walls painted in a dark shade of navy blue and Patrick likes it instantly. He doesn’t throw himself onto the bed but he lies on it and enjoys how comfortable the mattress is. He lets Jonny know and before Patrick knows it, Jonny’s out of the room and comes back with towels, a shirt, sweats and a pair of clean boxers. Jonny places them on the desk by the window and Patrick mouths him a “thank you” and stares happily at Jonny’s ass when he leaves the room.

Patrick takes his shirt off, getting ready for bed and he’s only wearing his boxers when Jonny walks in for the second time. He’s holding a blue toothbrush and Patrick catches Jonny staring at him as he hands Patrick the toothbrush.

“Thought you might need this,” Jonny says, voicing his thoughts. “Good night, Kaner. Tonight was great and we should have you over more often. Sleep well,” he adds, hand on Patrick’s shoulder.

Jonny leans in and presses his lips to Patrick’s quickly, and Patrick’s still a little shaky when he watches him leave the room because wow, that’s a thing that they do now. “Good night, Jonny,” Patrick says, but by now Jonny probably can’t hear him.

Patrick goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth and as soon and he’s done, he gets into bed, turns off the light and closes the curtains. It takes him an extra hour to fall asleep.

*

Patrick wakes up the following morning as the sun tries piercing its way through the thick navy curtains. He takes a quick look at the alarm clock on the bedside table and smiles to himself when he sees that it’s already half past eight and he walks over to the ensuite to take a quick shower. He brings the towel Jonny gave him last night, along with the shirt, the underwear and his pants from the night before. It doesn’t take long before he’s immersed under the spray of the shower head, hot water making contact with his cold skin. It feels good for a second to close his eyes and think about the kiss he and Jonny shared last night but Patrick tries to push the thought aside when he sees that all his thoughts about Jonny are creating a hard situation down there.

Patrick is out of the shower before he knows it and it’s only instants later that he makes the bed before heading downstairs to greet Jonny and Annabelle. He’s lured downstairs pretty quickly by the smell of pancakes and as soon he walks into the kitchen area, he finds Annabelle sitting at the kitchen island on one of the stool, sticky fingers stuffed into her mouth as she eats with her hands instead of her fork. Jonny is sitting close to his daughter, propped on the stool next to her as he reads the sports section of today’s paper while sipping on a cup of coffee.

Patrick enters the kitchen and says, “Morning, guys.”

He gets a faint answer from Annabelle who’s munching on her pancakes. After making sure that her attention is back on her food, Patrick walks over to Jonny and draws him closer, pressing their lips together for a few seconds before he pulls back to offer Jonny a bright smile.

They didn’t really get to talk after their kiss last night but it felt just right to walk over to Jonny and kiss him so Patrick did it anyway and he doesn’t regret it. Jonny doesn’t appear to regret it either, if the smile on his lips has any say in this. It’s silent for a few seconds and Patrick’s eyes never leave Jonny’s as he walks around the kitchen island to grab a stool and sit in right in front of Jonny and Annabelle.

Patrick grabs a plate and serves himself some breakfast, the sugary taste of syrup on his lips from the kiss he just shared with Jonny as his tongue sticks out to lick his bottom lip. He’s still distracted when he sits down, looking straight into Jonny’s eyes with a sleepy smile tugging at his lips as he looks at Jonny and his daughter.

Annabelle smiles through her mouthful and says, “Kaner! You’re still here!” Her eyes are wide as she’s hit with the realization and that easily puts a smile onto Patrick’s lips and Jonny’s. She looks like she wants to give him a hug but Patrick looks at her sticky fingers before shaking his head. He makes sure to ruffle Annabelle’s hair with his fingers, though.

“I told you I would be, didn’t I?” he asks and Annabelle nods as she takes another chocolate chip from her plate to stuff it in her mouth. “So here I am, kiddo. Slept well?” he asks, this time more looking for an answer from Jonny’s part.

Jonny grins up at his daughter. “You did, eh? You slept all the way to 6am and then what did you do, Anna?”

Annabelle, under her father’s stare, swallows what she has in her mouth before she answers. “Then,” she starts, looking at Patrick, “Me and Papa had a sleepover in his bed and he rub-ded my back like you do, Kaner, and I fell asleep again.”

“Rubbed, Anna,” Jonny corrects before adding, “But that’s right, you were pretty tired, huh?” He turns to Patrick and grins. “You give great advice, Pat. You’re really good with her, you know.”

Patrick grins to himself for a second but he pours himself some coffee in a plastic mug and sits down next to Jonny.

“You’re doing a pretty good job with her yourself, Jon. She’s a great kid,” Patrick answers, meeting Jonny’s eyes again. Patrick earns a smile from Jonny in exchange.

After breakfast, Patrick helps Jonny clean the few things they used this morning and then he starts tickling Annabelle so hard that she giggles on the couch, her legs flailing as the grin on her face almost speaks for itself and tells Patrick to tickle her some more. Patrick stops tickling her after a while because he doesn’t want to go too far, but if the smile on Annabelle’s face is anything to go by, he stopped at the right moment.

They sit on the couch together while Annabelle watches an unfinished recording of Paw Patrol. Patrick hears the kids praising the show every day at work but he never gets the chance to really sit down and watch it for a whole half hour. He sits next to Annabelle, though, and doesn’t move until the ending credits are scrolling down on the screen. Annabelle gets up before he does and she pokes his leg a few times before she runs her tiny fingers through her hair, attempting to untangle a small knot.

“Hey, kiddo,” Patrick says as he gets up, nodding at the stairs. “Wanna race? First one who gets up there gets to pick what you wear for the game.”

She giggles. “No fair, Kaner,” she says as she starts running up the stairs before he gets to say ‘Go’.

Patrick runs up the stairs after her, claiming the tickle monster might catch her if she doesn’t climb the stairs faster but she gets to her room before Patrick does and sticks her tongue out to prove she won.

“I guess you get to pick what you wear for the game, Bells. Be quick, though, let’s surprise Jonny and get dressed before he comes out of the shower,” Patrick says, whispering the last part in her ear to which she nods her head excitingly.

Annabelle picks a pair of grey sweatpants and then starts taking all of her clothes off. Once that’s done, she slides the sweats up her legs and then point to the top shelf of her closet.

“My jersey is right up there, Kaner. My Papa says it has to stay there so I don’t make it all dirty. He’s right, huh?” she asks, looking up to meet Patrick’s blue eyes.

Patrick nods, grinning. “Yeah, kiddo. We wouldn’t want to smear ketchup or ice cream on your jersey. Your Papa wants it to be clean when you go to his games and he makes a good point.”

“Okay, Kaner,” Annabelle nods. “Can we pick shoes now?” She looks up at Patrick expectantly, as if he knows anything about shoes for 4 year olds.

Patrick nods nonetheless. “Sure thing, Bells. You could put on your new shoes, the black ones that make you run really fast? I remember you telling me you love those.”

Patrick sits down on the floor as he watches Annabelle take every single pair of shoes she owns out of her closet. It’s a lot and there are a bunch of shoes Patrick is sure he’s never seen, but he starts off by suggesting a pair that he knows Annabelle loves to wear. That’s when Jonny decides to appear, hovering over the threshold of his daughter’s bedroom. He’s smiling though, so Patrick knows he probably looks stupid sitting down on the floor next to a jumpy four year old as they try and choose a pair of shoes.

“Good idea,” Annabelle exclaims, after a beat. She puts her shoes on by herself, to show both Patrick and Jonny that she’s a big girl, then she asks, “Can we go now? Papa’s here!”

Jonny snorts. “Yeah, Anna, we can go soon, alright? Go brush your teeth, wash your hands one more time and then we’ll go, I promise.”

*

Jonny keeps his promise and only a few minutes after Annabelle comes barging into the living room downstairs, they’re sitting in one of Jonny’s luxurious cars, heading down to the United Center. Annabelle seems happy in the backseat, singing along to Radio Disney, and Patrick grins when he looks at her singing along from the mirror. He keeps checking on her every time they stop at a red light and Annabelle smiles every time.

“Are you excited for the game, kiddo? You look happy,” Patrick asks, at another red light.

Annabelle looks up at him, beaming and she grabs her toy giraffe and holds it up to Patrick’s face. “I’m so excited, Pat,” she says, with much enthusiasm. “Before the games, Papa lets me hang out with his hockey friends and they’re so cool.”

“Oh yeah?” Patrick’s eyebrows raise, surprised. “You’re a very lucky girl, did you know that? A lot of people would love to meet Jonny’s hockey friends.”

“Uh-uh,” Annabelle replies. “Uncle Shawzy says he’s going to teach me to fight like a big girl, but Papa always says no,” she says, pouting.

Patrick suppresses a laugh, turning to the side just enough to catch a glimpse of the horrified look on Jonny’s face. “Your Papa is right to say no, Bells, fighting is not good. It’s okay in hockey, but not in the playground, okay?”

She nods. “Maybe you can meet Papa’s hockey friends with me. I promise they’re not scary, okay?”

Patrick nods just as he sees Jonny’s car park into the loading dock of the United Center. Patrick’s never been there in the six years he’s lived in Chicago and it must show on his face because as soon as the car comes to a stop, he’s met with Jonny’s curious grin.

“You’ve never been here, have you?” Jonny asks, his hand on Patrick’s arm.

Patrick shakes his head. “I don’t—I didn’t really follow the Blackhawks before you came around. There’s a first for everything, though.”

“Damn right,” Jonny says, as soon as he gets out of the car and his door shuts. “Lucky for you, you get the full experience. I know someone at your workplace who’d be pretty jealous.”

Patrick can’t help the chuckle that escapes him. “He’s gonna regret making fun of me for thinking you were hot.”

“You think I’m hot?” Jonny asks, suddenly way closer to Patrick than he was before. There’s a smirk tugging at his lips and Patrick wants nothing more than to kiss it right off.

He doesn’t. Instead, he says, “Forget I said anything, Jon. I don’t want you getting a big head before your game.”

That makes Jonny smile, as he pushes Patrick out of the way to help Annabelle out of the car.

*

Annabelle insists on holding Patrick’s hand as they walk out of the of the parking garage and into the building. Jonny’s walking in front of them with his bag, filled to the brim with hockey gear, and Annabelle’s grip tightens on Patrick’s hand when a car drives past them, parking in the space right next to Jonny’s car. Once they reach the door, Jonny holds it open for them, smiling as Patrick walks past the threshold with Annabelle.

“Do you know where we go after, Anna?” Jonny asks, the door closing behind the three of them.

She grins. “Uh-uh. This way,” she says, pulling Patrick’s hand. Patrick doesn’t argue, and follows Annabelle down the corridor.

The corridor goes on and on, for so long that Patrick thinks they might be lost. Annabelle is still pulling onto his hand though, probably adamant to prove to him and Jonny that she knows this place better than the back of her hand, so Patrick decides to trust her. If they had been lost, he’s sure Jonny would’ve said something by now.

They reach two tall metal doors with the Blackhawks logo on it when Annabelle stops walking and starts pulling on the sleeve of Patrick’s coat. He looks down at her to find her smiling, pointing at the doors.

“Papa spends a lot of time in here with his friends, Kaner,” she tells him, calmly. “It’s very smelly, but Papa’s friends are nice.”

That makes both Patrick and Jonny laugh, and Annabelle giggles as she stands on the tip of her toes to try and open the door. Her tongue is sticking out as she tries to get a hold of the large metal handle, but she fails and begs Jonny to open it for her as she goes back to Patrick’s side, holding onto his hand tightly again. Jonny opens the door and lets himself in, Patrick and Annabelle right behind him.

The first thing Patrick thinks about when he enters the locker room is how much it reminds him of his childhood. Patrick remembers playing hockey in high school, remembers the guys he was friends with bringing their girlfriends in the locker room, only to have them leave a few minutes later because they couldn’t handle the smell of sweat. He also vaguely remembers the last hockey game he played. He remembers falling, remembers how his wrist cracked when he fell against the boards after a hard hit. Patrick recalls lying on the ice for a long time, unable to move because the pain was too intense. He knew at that moment that he would never play hockey again.

He tries not to think about it too much but he’s already pushed the thought away when Annabelle pulls on the sleeve of his coat again and says, “Kaner? You look sad. I promise Papa’s friends are nice, okay?”

“I believe you,” Patrick reassures, as he sits next to Jonny’s stall. Annabelle sits next to him for a while and she starts telling him about how Jonny always gets there super early. She doesn’t stop, her hands continuing to move excitedly as the other players start coming in.

Patrick thinks he recognizes a few faces, from watching the Blackhawks on TV, but it’s still a blur. Annabelle jumps down on the floor and runs to the door and Patrick is about to stop her until he hears her call, “Uncle Seabs!”

The locker room quiets and everyone turns their attention to the door. Seabs drops his bag and puts it aside to scoop Annabelle into his arms and tickle her belly.

“Anna, you’ve grown so much since the last time I saw you,” he says, loud enough for Annabelle to hear over her loud giggles.

Patrick watches them interact for a bit until Jonny nudges his shoulder against Patrick’s.

“You okay? I saw you freeze when you entered the locker room,” Jonny says, worried. His hand is on Patrick’s shoulder and Patrick finds himself relaxing into the touch.

Patrick offers Jonny a small grin and nods. “I’m fine. It just brought back memories, is all.”

“You used to play?” Jonny asks, puzzled.

Patrick takes a look around to see if anyone’s listening to them but everyone seems busy doing their own thing - putting their gear on or listening to Annabelle as she tells stories about what happened at the park last weekend.

“I did,” Patrick admits. “I don’t really like talking about it, actually.”

Jonny frowns, but nods. “Okay, but you can tell me anything, you know that.”

Patrick grins as he pats Jonny’s gear clad thigh. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t get all sensitive on me now, Toews.”

They exchange grins just as Annabelle starts calling Patrick’s name, trying very hard to escape from Seabs’ grip. “Kaner,” she exclaims loudly, “Come meet Uncle Seabs, Uncle Duncs and Uncle Shawzy!”

Patrick stands up, leaving Jonny in his stall as he walks across the room, making sure he steps around the logo like Annabelle told him once when she couldn’t sleep at naptime. When he gets to Annabelle, he has three pairs of eyes on him. Annabelle stands up and stands next to Patrick as she introduces them to him.

“This is Uncle Seabs and this is Uncle Duncs, they’re almost as cool as Papa ‘cos they have a letter on their jerseys, too,” she announces happily.

“Nice to meet you, Kaner. We’ve all heard so much about you, from both Anna and Jonny. You seem to be their favourite person to talk about,” Seabs says, making Patrick flush a little as they both shake hands. He starts thinking about Jonny talking about him to his teammates and gets a warm feeling in his stomach.

Jonny pipes up, “Shut up, Seabrook,” from the other side of the locker room, making everyone burst into laughter.

“Who’s the worst? Annabelle or Jonny?” Patrick asks, making Jonny groan in frustration.

The guy sitting next to Seabs who Patrick thinks Annabelle vaguely introduced as Shawzy starts laughing. “Jonny for sure,” he says. “It’s always Patrick this and Patrick that, he never really stops.”

Everyone in the locker room seems to agree with Shawzy as they all start telling Patrick different things Jonny’s said about him when Patrick walks around with Annabelle to shake all of their hands. Before it gets worse, Jonny stands up and walks over to Patrick to put a hand on his shoulder.

“You guys should start heading for your seats. Anna doesn’t really like big crowds and if you get there early enough, she won’t have to deal with that,” Jonny says, his breath warm against Patrick’s ear.

Patrick nods but grins at Jonny mockingly. “You just want us to leave so your teammates stop teasing you,” he says, loud enough for everyone in the vicinity to decipher. When Jonny’s strong glance meets Patrick’s eyes, he kind of freezes and says, “I’ll get your girl to our seats, Toews. Calm your pants.”

Jonny just smiles and goes back to his stall.

Patrick stops by Seabs’ stall again and grins when he finds him tickling Annabelle again. “Okay, Bells, time to get to our seats and leave Jonny and his friends. You coming?”

“Uh-huh,” she says. “Bye Uncle Seabs, bye Uncle Duncs, bye Uncle Shawzy. Bye everyone!” she adds, loudly.

“Bye Anna! We’re gonna win for you,” Duncs says, lacing his skates.

Patrick laughs when he hears the rest of the Blackhawks say, “Bye Anna!” in unison like his kids do at kindergarten. Annabelle runs to Jonny for one last hug, and then she grabs Patrick’s hand and tugs him towards the metal doors, eager to leave.

She sniffles a little when they leave the locker room but she doesn’t cry at all when they walk down the same corridor as before, heading to the front doors, Patrick reaching into his coat for their tickets.

*

When the game starts, things get better. Patrick sits comfortably in his seat and shifts his glance back and forth between Annabelle and the game, while Annabelle can’t sit still for a second. She’s excited to see Jonny play and Patrick knows that for a fact ever since he saw the smile Annabelle was sporting when she announced to Patrick that she was finally able to go to a live game and invited him to tag along. Patrick sees more than that in the way her eyes glisten as she stares at the ice, the players moving quickly while her eyes and petite head follow every movement. He sees pride too, as she wears the same colors her father does and cheers whenever he gets the puck.

The first period is over pretty soon after it started and Patrick finds himself sitting in his seat as the horn sounds, watching as people stand up to walk to the concession stands and grab themselves a bite to eat. Annabelle is stretching on her seat right next to Patrick, her petite hand in front of her mouth as she yawns. There were no goals in the first period, but there were enough chances to get the crowd up on their feet every now and then. Patrick turns to Annabelle and offers her a smile, to which she replies with one of her own.

“Is Papa your favourite player on the team, Kaner?” she asks curiously, running a hand through her hair.

Patrick smiles and nods before adding, “Yeah, he is, but I’m a big fan of the Sabres because I’m from Buffalo. Do you know them?”

Annabelle stands up on her seat and Patrick grabs her before she falls and lets her sit on his lap. She’s looking up at Patrick, confused.

“Papa says they’re not very good. Is that true?” Annabelle asks, giggling when Patrick answers her question with a slow nod. “And you still like them? That’s very nice.”

Patrick grins. “Yeah, I guess it is. Do you still like the Blackhawks when they lose, Bells?”

“Uh-huh,” comes the quick reply and Annabelle starts squirming on Patrick’s lap so he decides to let her stand up next to him as long as she promises to stay close. “The Blackhawks are the best, Papa told me.”

“I’m sure he did,” Patrick says, suppressing a laugh. He finds Annabelle squirming again, this time standing up and asks, “Do you need to use the bathroom, kiddo?”

She nods, but then shrugs. “I don’t want to miss Papa play.”

“We can be really quick, c’mon,” Patrick says, and grabs her hand as they walk up the stairs together, Annabelle skipping more steps than she should with her small legs.

It’s easier than Patrick thought to find the bathroom and even though there’s a long queue of men waiting for their turn, it doesn’t take Patrick more than 5 minutes to get a empty toilet stall. He leads Annabelle to the stall and shuts the door behind her. After promising that he’s staying right here and she has nothing to worry about, he’s happy to see that she trusts him and does her business before flushing the toilet, stepping out of the bathroom stall happily. She refuses to hold Patrick’s hand before she washes her hands, though - that’s gross, Kaner - but Patrick holds her up nonetheless since he knows that she can’t reach the sink unless he does so.

They’re back at their seats with a few minutes to spare and Annabelle sits in her seat with her feet propped up against the boards and she giggles when Patrick takes a picture of her with his phone, reminding himself to show Jonny when he gets the chance. He loves that side of Annabelle that he rarely sees at kindergarten, especially when Sadie isn’t around. She’s goofy and cute, giggles at about everything and tiny dimples form in her cheeks when she laughs and she usually takes a finger and pokes them once in awhile which Patrick always finds so endearing.

The horn blares to signal the start of the second period and Patrick hears Annabelle cheer when the players get ready for the faceoff. Jonny’s there and Patrick thinks they make eye contact for a second but it’s too far for him to tell. He smiles though and the puck is dropped, and they’re underway.

The pace of the period is definitely faster than the first period, if that last shift is anything to go by. The Blackhawks spend most of their time in the offensive zone, not capitalizing on chances as much as they’d like to, but the chances are there and that’s already a good start. The first goal of the period is scored about halfway through the period and the arena blares the goal horn and Chelsea Dagger as Jonny is crushed against the boards by his linemates after scoring a hell of a goal. Annabelle is up on her seat, Patrick holding her hand so she doesn’t fall and she’s cheering pretty hard for Jonny.

“Papa scored!” she’s yelling into Patrick’s ear above the noise. “He did it for me!”

Patrick smiles and sits back into his seat, helping Annabelle down. “Yes he did, kiddo. Maybe he’s going to score another, huh?” he says, and that gets Annabelle’s eyes glued to the glass for the remainder of the period.

Two more goals are scored and the period ends with the Blues leading two goals to one. Annabelle is a little grumpy but she doesn’t mind walking up to the concession stands with Patrick to get some food. There isn’t much food for Annabelle so Patrick ends up getting her some cotton candy and a soft drink for himself. They walk back to their seats with yet again a lot of time to spare but this time, Annabelle nibbles on her cotton candy quietly as Patrick keeps an eye on her while he sends Sharpy a few texts on his phone. He takes a selfie with Annabelle, her lips turned blue because of all the cotton candy, and makes sure to send it to Sharpy and Abby with a text that says I bet my morning is better than your morning along with a bunch of emojis.

Patrick deprives Annabelle from her cotton candy 5 minutes before the start of the third period and she complains for a while, but then she’s hit with sugar high and she doesn’t mind it anymore. The period starts and like the previous one, Annabelle spends the start of the period glued to the glass, hitting on the glass like the guy sitting a few seats from them does every now and then and Patrick shakes his head at the bad example the guy is setting but he smiles when Annabelle decides to calm down. The Blues and Blackhawks exchange goals over the first half of the period and the game is now tied at three goals for each team.

There’s still ten minutes to go in the period when the crowd starts booing the opponent as they push Crawford into the net and still end up taking the lead. Annabelle looks tired but she still has enough strength in her to yell at the Blues to stop being so mean, which causes everyone in earshot to burst into a fit of laughter. It ends up working, or motivating the Blackhawks in a way because one second Seabs has the puck on his stick and a beat later it’s at the back of the net and the light behind the net flashes red.

The end of the game is near when Annabelle starts to yawn. Both teams are locked at four goals apiece and Patrick is holding a sleepy toddler that’s getting heavier as the last minutes of the game go by. He takes his phone out to check the time and he winces as he realizes they’re way past naptime and Jonny is going to have to deal with a grumpy child after the game. For a second, Patrick thinks the game might be over when the Blues’ player skates all alone on a breakaway against Crawford but he takes a deep breath when he hears the referee whistle and watches him skate towards the goaltender who hands over the puck.

The Blackhawks get an opportunity instants later and unlike the other team, they manage to score a goal so nicely set that it deserves to be played over a thousand times on a highlight reel. Hossa looks for Jonny in front of the net but fakes a shot and then frees the passing lane and as soon as the puck is on Jonny’s stick, he shoots a one timer past Allen and it’s over. 36 seconds left to the game and Patrick can’t quite believe it.

The crowd is loud. Chelsea Dagger blasts in the speakers and all around them, fans are singing along and clinking their beers together in celebration. The last seconds of the period go by without much action, the Blackhawks keeping the puck in their own zone most of the time. The horn sounds, announcing the end of the third period and as people start to leave, Annabelle wakes in Patrick’s arms. Patrick sets her down in her seat as they calmly wait for the three stars to be announced.

“The third star, with an outstanding performance in the net despite the 4 goals he allowed, Corey Crawford,” the announcer’s voice sounds. The crowd cheers as the goaltender steps out on the ice for a quick wave.

“Kaner, do you think Papa is gonna be the first star?” Annabelle asks, turning to Patrick as they start announcing the 2nd star. It’s one of the Blues’ players whose name doesn’t sound familiar and Patrick smiles a little to himself when he hears how silent the crowd is after the announcement, Annabelle still indifferent as he holds her with one arm.

Patrick grins. “I think so, Bells. He was amazing out there it would be dumb to give the first star to anyone else,” he says, patting Annabelle on the shoulder.

“Papa deserves all the stars,” she declares, throwing her hands up in the air. “Shh, they’re gonna say Papa’s name,” she adds, bringing a finger to her lips and holding it there.

Patrick simply laughs and turns his head to the side, watching as Jonny sits on the bench, waiting for his name to be called. Annabelle waves at him and he waves at her right back.

“And your first star of the game, with two goals including today’s game winning goal, your captain, Jonathan Toews,” the voice announces.

Jonny skates out on the ice with a few pucks that he throws out to some fans. He smiles at everyone and waves at little kids that are pressed against the glass, wide eyes and bright smiles. He skates back to the bench for a short interview. Patrick stares at the back of his neck for a few seconds, lost in his thoughts before he hears what Jonny is saying and smiles with pride as he talks freely about how positive of an impact it is when Annabelle attends the game. The interviewer seems to agree as well.

“My daughter is the most important person in my life and she makes me want to push myself further to not only become a great hockey player but to also become a great role model for her. Later on, when she gets older, it’s going to be important for her to know that if she has a dream and wants to achieve it, she has to work for it and give it everything she’s got if she wants to obtain results,” Jonny explains, and Patrick grins as he notices Jonny can’t help but crack a smile as he speaks about Annabelle. “Both goals tonight were for her,” he adds and he turns to face her in the crowd.

Patrick needs this moment to end soon because he’s going to cry. He’s holding Annabelle and she’s blowing kisses in Jonny’s direction. Jonny blows a kiss right back and says, loudly into the microphone, “Thanks for being here, Anna.”

Patrick glares as Jonny gives the crowd one last wave before he disappears under the tunnel and back to the locker room. There’s a crowd of people surrounding them but Patrick remembers what Jonny said about tight crowds and he gets them out of there as fast as he can.

Once they get back to ice level, Annabelle insists on walking and she leads Patrick down the same dimly lit hallway as before and when she starts running, Patrick looks up to see Jonny in the middle of the hallway, arms spread wide as he waits for Annabelle to run into them. He’s still sweaty and his cheeks are still flushed red but his smile matches the one on Annabelle’s lips as he finally gets to scoop her up and press his lips against the soft skin of her forehead. Patrick walks to them but he keeps his distance, unsure of where he should stand.

Patrick can’t help but take another glance at Jonny as he watches him put Annabelle on his shoulders as if it was the simplest thing ever. He acknowledges Patrick after making sure she’s comfortably seated. “So, what did you think?” Jonny asks, hands holding onto both of Annabelle’s legs tightly.

“You were—” Patrick starts thinking of a word that’s good enough to describe the way Jonny played but he can’t come up with anything. “Outstanding? Really _fudging_ good? You wear that C very well, too,” he says, careful not to swear because Annabelle’s around.

Jonny’s mouth breaks into a grin and Patrick has never seen Jonny smile like that before. It comes as a surprise when he says, “In the speech, I know I thanked Anna for being here but I meant to thank you as well, Pat. I really appreciate you being here.”

Patrick smiles and he’s about to reply when he spots, from the corner of his eye, one of Annabelle’s many uncles - Shawzy, he thinks - making his way over to them and stealing Annabelle off Jonny’s shoulders, before running back to the locker room, giving Patrick a short wave. Patrick laughs and he turns to Jonny to receive some kind of explanation as to why Annabelle disappeared in the middle of their conversation but all he gets is a smile.

“That was—Um,” says Jonny, gesturing back to the large door of the locker room as if it was enough of an explanation.  

Patrick nods and before he could say anything, Jonny is talking again.

“You know, Pat,” Jonny’s voice lowers. He looks Patrick in the eyes and continues, “Anna wasn’t the only one who really wanted you to be there.”

“Oh yeah? Good to know,” Patrick says, smirking. He suddenly really likes where this is going.

A blush creeps its way onto Jonny’s cheeks. “It’s just— _Pat_ ,” Jonny starts, interrupted as he warns Patrick when he sees him walking closer to him.

“Yeah. Something wrong?”

The way Jonny shakes his head gives Patrick a confidence boost, enough for him to grab the back of Jonny’s neck and close the gap that had formed between the two of them. Jonny’s lips are soft, so very soft, as Patrick presses their mouths together. His head is spinning when Jonny pulls away, catching his lower lip between his own. Patrick holds onto Jonny’s shirt, fingers grasped onto the thin fabric of it, and he lets Jonny seal their lips again. Patrick doesn’t want to pull away from that kiss anytime soon so he keeps kissing Jonny slowly, mere brushes of lips before licking at Jonny’s bottom lip, tongue teasing until Jonny parts his lips, letting Patrick in to explore the depths of his mouth. Patrick’s knees buckle as he feels Jonny deepen the kiss on his part, licking into Patrick’s mouth softly, their tongues meeting over and over again, as if on a loop.

It’s Patrick’s turn to pull away from the kiss to latch his lips onto the skin of Jonny’s neck, ignoring how sweaty it is. He nibs at a spot right under Jonny’s ear, spot he would now qualify as a sweet spot considering the stifled moan Jonny elicits when Patrick sinks his teeth into the flesh. He groans as Jonny breaks them apart, his strong hands on Patrick’s shoulders.

“Pat,” Jonny says, out of breath. “Maybe we shouldn’t. Not here.”

“No?” Patrick inquires, snorting. “You didn’t seem to mind a minute ago.”

Patrick stares at Jonny for an answer but all he gets is a shit-eating grin accompanied with a shrug. Jonny grabs Patrick’s wrist and pulls him into the closest empty room he finds and shuts the door behind them. He pins Patrick against the door and Patrick sneers when their foreheads touch.

“Can I kiss you again?” Jonny asks, twining his fingers with Patrick’s against the cold wooden door.

Patrick snorts. “I’m the one who kissed you the first time, smartass.”

Jonny’s smile is bright when he says, “I don’t even know why I asked,” bringing their lips together instantly.

Jonny’s kisses are slower and more delicate than Patrick’s when their mouths meet again. Patrick lets his hand travel down Jonny’s back, tentatively sliding up the nape of Jonny’s neck and through his hair, fingers tangling themselves in short brown tufts of hair as he presses their mouths together more firmly. Patrick’s fingers slip under the hem of Jonny’s shirt, slowly trying to get it over his head. Patrick breaks apart from the kiss for a second, his eyes meeting Jonny’s, searching for something that could show him that Jonny is totally okay with this, but when he sees Jonny bite his own bottom lip, he removes Jonny’s shirt quickly, the tip of his fingers cold as they touch the warm skin of Jonny’s chest.

Patrick’s eyes shift from Jonny’s face to his chest, looking at how muscular his body looks. He’s got broad shoulders and they’re all sweaty but Patrick somehow guilts himself into finding that attractive. Jonny’s abs are glistening with sweat as well and if they weren’t in such a public place, Patrick would get his mouth on them.

He forgets all about it when Jonny’s hands are on his side and Patrick feels his large, calloused hands move from above the fabric to slide under his shirt, sending tingles right to his spine.

“Fuck,” Patrick says, breathy.

“Yeah,” Jonny says, putting his shirt back on. Patrick feels like Jonny might want to add something but the older man stays quiet, kissing Patrick one last time. “We should be getting back to Anna.”

“We should,” Patrick agrees.

When they get out of the room, Annabelle and Shawzy are standing together in front of the locker room, waiting for the two of them. Patrick laughs when the first thing Shawzy says when he sees them is something about how Jonny’s cheeks are more red than usual. Patrick grabs Annabelle, scooping her up and pressing his lips to her forehead like she was his own kid and tells Jonny that they’ll be waiting for him in the parking lot and the grin Jonny flashes in his direction is bright.

Patrick somehow can’t manage to wipe that smile from his face either.

*

In fact, he’s still smiling when Jonny opens the car door on the driver side and gets in, buckling his seatbelt before making sure Annabelle is alright in the back seat but she’s obviously too into her Mickey Mouse book to say anything. For the first five minutes, the car ride is spent in silence, Patrick lost in his thoughts, thinking about the things he would let Jonny’s hands do to him, Jonny seemingly too focused on the road ahead to talk to him.

Eventually, Patrick turns back to check on Annabelle and sees her snoozing in her car seat, her head bobbing with every bump on the road. He chuckles lightly and looks at Jonny who just shrugs and smiles, his eyes still set on the road. He turns his head to Patrick once they reach a stoplight.

“Some of the guys want to go out to eat. Are you and Anna are up for it?” Jonny asks.

It’s almost as though Annabelle wakes up at the mention of food because she begins clapping from the backseat. “Can we get chicken nuggets, Papa?” She questions excitedly.

Jonny laughs, continuing to drive along the long road. “Yes, Anna. I’m sure we can find somewhere that serves nuggets.” He glances at Patrick as quickly as he can without turning away for too long. “Pat?”

“You’re asking me to spend more time with you?” Patrick jokes, adding emphasis on just the right word.

Jonny huffs and rolls his eyes, as though he believes for a second that Patrick wouldn’t want to go with them. Patrick looks up into the rearview mirror to lock eyes with Annabelle.

“What do you think, kiddo? Should I come?” He asks, even though he’s already made up his mind and knows exactly what she’ll say.

“Of course, Kaner!” She cheers and that settles that.

Jonny turns on an upcoming street and down for a couple minutes before they pull up to the parking lot of a restaurant. Patrick’s been there once before, with Sharpy and Maddy a long time ago, and he loved it. It serves a pretty mean burger and Patrick’s mouth waters at the thought.  

He can see Duncs, Seabs, and Shawzy all hanging near the entrance as they gets out of the car. Jonny opens up the back door to help Annabelle out of her seat and onto the ground. She happily clings to her dad’s hand and then uses her free one to gesture for Patrick to grab it. Patrick doesn’t think about how domestic it looks, just takes her little hand in his own, and the three walk wordlessly to meet the others.

He can spot the raised eyebrows as they get closer to the other guys. Seabs, in particular, has a smirk on his face and Patrick can already feel the chirps coming Jonny’s way. No one says anything now though, besides Annabelle who jumps excitedly when she sees her uncles waiting for her. Her hands leave Patrick’s and Jonny’s and she runs towards the three guys, despite the fact that she saw them not too long ago.

Shawzy grins and scoops Annabelle up into his arms, turning to walk into the restaurant's doors without waiting for the others. Patrick figures him and Jonny must be really close, seeing as that’s the second time today Shawzy’s happily walked away with Jonny’s daughter and no cared about his reaction.

Duncs and Seabs nod at Patrick, who greets them right back. They move inside the restaurant as well, requesting a table for six. The hostess recognizes the hockey players right away, and Patrick knows she must have served them previously because she doesn’t freak out. She - her name tag reads Taylor - guides them to a table in the back, carrying a stack of menus and what Patrick guesses is a kids menu.

When they reach the table, Annabelle chooses a seat in the middle of two others, obviously hoping Jonny and Patrick will sit on either ends of her. They do just that; Shawzy takes the seat in front of Patrick, Duncs in front of Annabelle, and Seabs left staring at Jonny as he slides into his own chair. Taylor lingers near Jonny and Seabs’ side of the table and pulls out her notepad.

“Can I start you off with some drinks?” She asks, politely.

“Papa, can I have juice with my chicken nuggets, _please_?” Annabelle begs, looking up at Jonny with what Patrick could probably guess are her puppy dog eyes. He can’t see her face from where he’s sitting but he does catch Jonny’s nod to her question.

He asks, “What kind would you like?” And that has Annabelle trying to decide between her favourite (grape) or apple. She chooses grape in the end and Jonny smiles like he knew it was coming, before repeating it to the waitress. He orders a water for himself and then turns to Patrick and the other three guys.

They don’t order beers like Patrick expected, instead choosing different types of sodas to drink. Patrick, himself, chooses a Coke with ice. Taylor finishes scribbling that down and walks away to give them a few minutes with the menus.

Patrick’s eyes scan over the menu briefly, even though he’s already set his mind on what he’s going to get. Seabs and Duncs are actively discussing the steaks or whatnot, and Shawzy is leaning over to talk to Annabelle, whose focus is on the colouring pages that came with her kids menu. Shawzy acts jealous of Annabelle which has Patrick chuckling as he glances at Jonny to see if he’s catching it as well.

He is, of course. Jonny’s always one to have an eye out for what his daughter’s up to. He’s got a closed mouth smile and his eyes flicker up when he feels Patrick’s on him. They lock gazes over Annabelle’s small head and Patrick finds it so nice to see Jonny like this. Laidback and _soft_.

He only snaps out of it when Annabelle taps his arm. Patrick shifts his eyes to her and sticks out his tongue to get her to giggle. It works and she falls back on her chair happily.

“Are you ready to order?” Taylor shows up again, pad and pen at the ready.

A collective agreement flows through the table so Jonny starts them off. “I’m going to have the mixed salad. With extra avocados, please.” He smiles politely at her and she grabs his menu.

“Papa,” Annabelle pipes up, quieter than usual. It’s as though she doesn’t want anyone to hear when she whispers, “Can I order my food?”

And Patrick finds that so fucking cute, seeing her be comfortable in public and talking to someone she hasn’t been around for long. He’s almost prouder than he should be.

Jonny nods and Annabelle sits up straight in her chair. “I’ll have the chicken nuggets.” She almost returns to her drawing but quickly catches herself to add a, “Please.”

Taylor smiles at her and notes the order down. She turns to Seabs, who clears his throat.

“Well, unlike our health-nut captain over here,” He nods his head towards Jonny. “I’ll have a steak with potatoes.” He seems content with himself as he leans back and hands the waitress his menu.

Patrick holds in a snicker as Jonny glares at Seabs. Duncs does the same thing as Seabs had, rattling off the name of another steak dish and mocking Jonny at the same time. It comes to Patrick’s turn and he decidedly does not look at his side of the table as he orders his burger. He can imagine Jonny’s face as Patrick asks for extra onions and pickles, but Patrick’s been craving this for some time and there’s no way he’s changing it to one of those quinoa and bean concoctions now.

He allows himself to look at Jonny only after Taylor’s already written his order. Jonny’s not staring at him though. Instead, he’s got this weird eye thing going on with Shawzy from across the table. Shawzy picks up his menu hesitantly and scatters through it before looking towards the waitress. She’s smirking, along with Duncs, Seabs, and Patrick, but stays silent.

“I guess I’ll have,” Shawzy starts. He looks down at the menu and then up at Jonny’s glary eyes. “The greek spinach salad. No cucumbers.”

Duncs and Seabs both burst out laughing, and Patrick can’t help himself either. Jonny says nothing, just nods, swiftly grabbing the menu from Shawzy’s hand and hands it to the waitress. She quickly writes down the last order and shuffles away, promising it won’t be too long.

Patrick’s now seen first hand Jonny’s whole captain-y thing, even for something as immature as this. It’s funny though and Patrick’s definitely finding himself more comfortable with Jonny’s teammates after this day. They joke around for a bit longer until their food shows up.

It comes rather quickly, and Jonny warns Annabelle to let hers cool off before she digs in completely. The others start eating, and that’s when Seabs asks him about his job.

Patrick rattles off stories about his kids and Sharpy, Annabelle piping up when she remembers part of the story because she was there. He describes Sharpy pretty well for them and now that he knows these three guys, he can see how Sharpy might get along great with them.

By the end of their meals, Patrick’s laughed harder than he has with anyone other than Sharpy. The guys are obviously protective of Jonny, Seabs the most, Patrick notes, but they’re not afraid to mock him either whenever possible. They’re also amazing with Annabelle. Patrick learns they’ve mostly all had experience with their own kids when he asks about them. Annabelle joins in to talk about Duncs’ son and Seabs’ as well when they’re mentioned. Patrick learns that Seabs has a daughter as well and he asks about her; it seems like the right thing to do because Seabs’ face lights up the way that Sharpy’s does when Maddy or Sadie are mentioned. It’s gross and cute at the same time.

Taylor comes around to pick up their plates when she’s seen that they’re all done. She asks how many different bills to bring and Jonny quickly responds, “Four.”

Patrick doesn’t notice at first but then the sudden realization that there are five adults sitting at the table kicks in. He’s thankful that the guys across from them are focused on their own things because Patrick turns to Jonny. “Jonny.”

Jonny knows what’s coming, of course. “Pat, it’s nothing. Let me do this.” And Patrick knows he shouldn’t give in because he’s heard that phrase too many times, but he also doesn’t want to cause a scene in front of Jonny’s teammates either.

They each pay, except Patrick who sits idly by with Annabelle. Shawzy wiggles his eyebrows at him when Jonny’s punching in his card numbers and Patrick wishes he knew what that meant.

Taylor thanks them and bids them goodbye, waving back at Annabelle, whose smile is bright as she happily says bye. She’s in Duncs’ arms now as they exit and they all walk towards the cars together. Jonny and Patrick are brushing up against each other and continue to stand close together while the guys begin saying goodbye to Annabelle. Duncs lets her down to the ground and they each share hugs with her.

Seabs lightly slaps Patrick on the back and proceeds to say goodbye to both him and Jonny. The teammates will see each other very soon, they’ve got that whole circus trip thing coming up anyway now, but Patrick hopes he’ll be able to hang out with these guys again soon as well.

He receives fist bumps from both Duncs and Shawzy and then him and Jonny are getting into the car. Jonny helps Annabelle into the seat and then goes into the driver’s side.

“Home?” He asks Patrick, and Patrick for a second forgets about what that means now that he’s got this good thing going for him. Whatever it is.

Patrick nods, choosing to stay wordless which gets him a look from Jonny. His face must be doing something weird but Jonny doesn’t mention it, just starts up the engine and pulls out of the parking space.

The ride is silent. Annabelle is in need of a nap in the backseat, and Patrick can’t get Shawzy out of his head. Not Shawzy specifically, just his eyebrow thing where he was hinting something. Patrick doesn’t really get it and he really wants to ask Jonny about it, already hating how high school it seems to ask him what are we?

He can only stay quiet until they pull up to Patrick’s house. Jonny looks like he’s waiting for Patrick to just say goodbye and leave, but instead, the blond glances quickly in the back towards a sleeping Annabelle, and then to Jonny in the front seat. “Are we,” Patrick’s voice trails off and Jonny’s eyebrows furrow.

Patrick clears his throat and then with more confidence, “Are we dating?”

Jonny’s face does a couple things. He seems confused, and then shocked, and then upset. Patrick already hates himself for asking if it means Jonny would be getting upset. Before he has a chance to take it back, Jonny replies, “Yes.”

And well - it’s sort of what Patrick was hoping for. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, Pat.” Jonny rolls his eyes. “We kiss and we go on dates, and I introduce you to my friends. I’d say we’re pretty much dating.”

Patrick can’t stop the smile that breaks onto his face. He surges forward to smash his lips together with Jonny’s. It pushes Jonny back just a little, but not for long, because the other man is starting to push Patrick back as well. And Patrick would love this, would love if this was just him and Jonny, alone, but it’s not. He pulls back reluctantly, and Jonny sighs. Patrick only has to glance once into the backseat for Jonny to understand what he means. He nods and Patrick really wishes the situation was different.

He doesn’t want to move but he makes himself open the car door anyway. “I’ll see you, yeah?”

“Yeah, Pat,” Jonny says for the second time that day and Patrick would glare at him for it, except that meant looking at Jonny for a longer period of time and not being able to contain himself from kissing him right there.

Jonny waits until Patrick’s got his front door unlocked and has a foot inside, before turning his car around to head home. Patrick closes the door and locks it, heading to his bedroom to relax and hopefully start on some of his work without being distracted by the thought of Jonny’s mouth.

It works for the most part.

*

Patrick tried giving himself at least a day before deciding to text Jonny after he left, and failed. The Blackhawks had just left for a 5-night road trip yesterday, after an emotional goodbye between Jonny and Annabelle while he dropped her off that morning. She started crying when Jonny knelt down to hug her and Patrick watched as her dad began soothing her with words that Patrick wasn’t able to catch.

Once she promised to be good for her nanny and her sniffles were fading, Jonny kissed her on her forehead and stood up to meet Patrick. He had tears in his eyes which Patrick didn’t mention, instead promising to text during the next few days. Jonny nodded and leaned in to kiss Patrick on the lips. It had been expected since they are officially together together now, but it still made Patrick blush when he became aware of the other adults that filled the hallway, Sharpy included.

Now, he texts Jonny and says, _look at what Anna made today_ , and he attaches to his text a picture of Annabelle at her table with a couple other kids. She’s smiling widely and holding up a drawing. It’s one of her and Jonny again, like most of them are, except this one includes Patrick in it as well. She’s used the bright yellow marker to colour in Patrick’s hair and it made him laugh when he first saw it. It would have helped if the marker was not neon coloured but nevertheless it’s one of his favourite drawings of hers.

 _Why does it look like you have a lemon on your head_ , Jonny’s reply comes in minutes later. Patrick sees it and tries to muffle his laughter in order to not wake the kids.

He snickers while typing out, _That wasn’t very nice of you._

Patrick pockets his phone and goes back to what he was initially doing. He’s going through the kids’ folders, making sure all their names are scribbled at the bottom so that Patrick can show their drawings to the parents during parent-teacher nights. He’s looking through Sadie’s folder when he hears the door open, making Patrick look up to see who would dare wake his kids up.

Patrick’s not surprised to see Sharpy walk into his classroom, the door creaking loudly as he tries to shut it behind him, making some of the kids turn onto their mattresses but so far, everyone still seems asleep so Patrick can’t really kick Sharpy out. Patrick keeps his eyes on the folders, closing Sadie’s and grabbing Timmy’s because he’s utterly certain that Sadie doesn’t want her dad to see her drawings unless she’s the one showing them to him.

Sharpy puts a hand on Patrick’s shoulder and it makes Patrick turn to look at him. Sharpy’s got that dumb look on his face and Patrick knows this look much too well.

“It’s time for your break, Peekaboo,” Sharpy singsongs, happily. He’s speaking way too loud and Patrick’s about to reprimand him for it but he doesn’t.

He snorts, instead. “There’s no way in hell your break falls in the same time slot as mine, Sharpy.”

And Patrick would be right, because they’re both responsible for the two oldest age groups and they alternate their breaks. Sharpy seems pretty insistent that they have their break together today of all days, though.

“You wound me, Peeks. Don’t you want to spend time with your best friend in the whole world?” he asks, placing a hand atop his heart.

Patrick stops writing Timmy’s name on a drawing to look up at Sharpy, meeting his eyes. “You’re not gonna be my best friend for long if you keep that up. My break isn’t for another hour and a half today; look at the sheet taped to the door.”

Patrick stares at Sharpy, waiting for an answer when it hits him. “Sharpy, what did you do?” He only uses that tone with his kids when they do something really bad, but it applies to Sharpy in this situation, if the guilty look on his face is anything to go by.

“I might’ve switched your break with Lauren in 3A so that we could have a break together since that hasn’t happened in like, a decade, and we have so much to catch up on,” Sharpy explains.

“You told her all of that and she agreed? Did you bribe her? There is no way she’d agree to that without you bribing her, Sharpy,” Patrick says, louder than intended.

Sharpy shrugs his shoulders and gives Patrick a bright smile. Patrick knows that smile all too well, it’s that I’m about to lie to your face, please let me get away with it smile and Sharpy must do it all the time because his daughter is starting to do it too and there’s nothing Patrick hates more than that full teeth smile.

“I didn’t exactly bribe her,” Sharpy starts, shrugging his shoulder. Patrick doesn’t believe him at all and he tells Sharpy just that. “I did say I would get tickets to a Blackhawks game so she can go with her boyfriend, though.”

Patrick grunts, quietly. “I’m not going to ask Jonny for tickets, so you better hope you find some affordable tickets on your own. Also, you’re a dick, Sharpy.”

Sharpy just stands there smiling in lieu of a response and Patrick tries really hard not to hit him.

The door opens instants later, Lauren walking into the classroom silently as she tries not to disturb anyone, unlike Sharpy when he walked into the room just a few minutes before. Patrick puts his kids’ folders away and thanks Lauren for agreeing with Sharpy’s malicious plan before he walks out the door behind Sharpy. Patrick takes one last look as his kids, all of them sleeping soundly, and then follows Sharpy to the break room knowing exactly what Sharpy wants to talk about.

He’s barely inside the room when Sharpy pats the space next to him on the couch for Patrick to sit on. Instead, Patrick takes the chair next to the couch and pulls his phone out of his pocket to see if he’s got any text messages from Jonny or not. It turns out he has two texts from Jonny and he can’t help the small smile that tugs at his lips.

 _You didn’t tell Anna about it, did you?_ is what the first text reads and Patrick can’t help but shake his head in disbelief. Of course he didn’t tell Anna about it, he’s not a monster.

He looks at the text message right underneath and smiles.

 _Have a good day, Pat. I’ll call you later tonight_ , it says. He even adds an emoji - the one blowing kisses - and Patrick feels his smile widening.

Patrick ignores the smirk on Sharpy’s face as he sends a quick answer to both texts before pocketing his phone again, turning away from Sharpy. This really isn’t a conversation he wants to be having so he prays someone’s going to burst into the break room and start a conversation with Patrick. If he remembers correctly, Julie from 2B is supposed to have her break right now.

“So, you and Jonny are moving fast,” Sharpy says, nudging Patrick’s shoulder. “Kisses in front of everyone, that takes a lot of guts, Peeks.”

Patrick groans. “I don’t want to have this conversation with you. We’re not moving fast, dickface, it’s not my fault it took you and Abby almost two years to get your head out of your ass and kiss each other.”

“That’s not very nice, Peekaboo,” he says, feigning hurt. It doesn’t seem to hurt him much because Sharpy changes the subject a beat later. “I’m happy for you, you know? I know it might not sound like it but I really am happy that it worked out.”

That makes Patrick smile. He’s happy that it worked out too. “Thanks, man. Anything else, or can I give Lauren a longer break and go back to my class?”

Patrick didn’t even have plans for his break in the first place, so he doesn’t mind going back to his classroom to work with the folders like he was doing before Sharpy rudely interrupted him. He’s ready to stand up and leave when Sharpy grabs his arm.

“One last thing,” he says, waiting until he has Patrick’s full attention to continue.

Patrick nods. “What is it?”

“Your Jonny knows that if he breaks your heart I’m going to break his face, right?” Sharpy asks, giving a fistbump to his open palm.

“He’s not _my_ Jonny,” Patrick says, even though for a moment he realizes that as of a few days ago Jonny kind of is. He shakes his head and exits the room, walking back to his classroom where he sees some of his kids already sitting on top of their mattresses. Patrick decides to set a table for them and he gives them sheets of paper and coloring markers, the thought of Jonny being his still fresh in his mind.

*

_December_

The sun is shining brightly through the curtains when Patrick wakes one morning. He doesn’t have to be up for another two hours but he gets out of bed anyway at around nine in the morning and makes himself some breakfast. He doesn't have much to do that day so he forces himself to be productive and head to the gym, trying to regain the muscles he might've lost since the last summer.

Patrick doesn’t spend too much time at the gym because it’s fairly crowded and he usually likes working out without being surrounded by twenty five other sweaty guys. He does take a couple peeks, though, but they’re meaningless because then he starts thinking about Jonny and forgets all about the guys that are working on their weights next to him. He thinks about Jonny’s shoulders, how thick and strong his arms are and he ends up having to start over an entire set because he wasn’t focusing and stopped counting halfway.

Patrick leaves the gym right as people start making their way out, so he has no luck finding an empty shower. He grabs a towel from his bag and makes sure to wipe every drop of sweat from his body before he puts his sweats and coat back on and heads outside. Once he gets back home, Patrick takes the longest shower and puts comfortable Sunday afternoon clothes on and lies on his couch.

He doesn’t know when he falls asleep or how long he slept but he wakes up, startled by his doorbell ringing. He ignores it at first, sitting up on his couch with bleary eyes.

Then, there’s knock on the door and Patrick’s eyes shift from the bright TV screen to the hall as he gets up and heads in the direction of the front door. He’s not expecting anyone but he straightens his shirt anyway and opens the door, surprised to see Jonny standing on the other side. His smile is crooked and Patrick can’t help but smile back as he lets Jonny in, closing the door behind them. There’s something different about Jonny, Patrick thinks as his eyes linger on Jonny’s face for a while. He looks more relaxed, the circles under his eyes aren’t as prominent as before and he looks genuinely happy.

They walk to the living room where Patrick goes to turn off the TV, knowing all too well that Jonny didn’t come over to watch some Netflix with him. Patrick sits on the couch and waits for Jonny to sit next to him before Patrick hooks his ankle around his. It’s comfortable, almost nice, and Patrick doesn’t voice his thoughts but he’s really glad that Jonny’s here.

“It’s really good to see you,” Jonny says, voice low and soft. He places a hand on Patrick’s hip and instead of waiting for any kind of answer, he leans in and presses his mouth to Patrick’s.

Patrick kisses him back instantly, letting out a small hum because he hadn’t realized how much he had missed this over the past two weeks. It doesn’t take long before Patrick straddles Jonny’s thighs, sitting comfortably on his lap without detaching his lips from Jonny’s. His kisses are the right mix of soft and rough, the edges of his teeth sometimes nipping at Patrick’s bottom lip, his tongue strong when it brushes against Patrick’s.

They stay like that for a while, just kissing, breathing hard and only pulling back for air when deemed necessary. Patrick leans into Jonny’s touch as his hands slips under the cotton fabric of his shirt and onto his bare skin, his cold hands against Patrick’s warm skin making Patrick shiver all over. Patrick smiles against Jonny’s mouth when Jonny’s hand slips to cup one of his ass cheeks and he weaves his fingers through the short hair at the nape of Jonny’s neck, his mouth still pressed against Jonny’s.

Jonny pulls back after a beat. “Pat, I’m so glad we’re doing this,” he says, and Patrick doesn’t know whether the emotion behind that is more confused or aroused but he smiles nonetheless and presses his lips to Jonny’s neck.

“Less talking, more kissing,” Patrick says quietly into Jonny’s ear, nipping at the earlobe with his mouth.

Jonny doesn’t need to be told twice, apparently, because he does just that, drawing Patrick close to press their mouths together again. It goes on like that for a few minutes before Patrick starts kissing his way down the column of Jonny’s throat, his arm thrown around Jonny’s neck and resting on top of his shoulders.

Jonny makes some satisfied sounds, to which Patrick finds himself grinning as he pops open the buttons of Jonny’s dress shirt, revealing a muscular and toned chest. He keeps his mouth on Jonny’s skin as he undoes every button until he gets to the last one. Patrick then kneels between Jonny’s thighs, his knees against the cold wooden floor. He looks up to meet Jonny’s eyes and smiles when Jonny moans again.

“Fuck, Pat,” Jonny says, and he’s taking off his suit and his dress shirt. “Let’s go to your room, yeah?”

Patrick nods and he stands up, waiting for Jonny to get up before he makes his way down the hall and into his bedroom. He pushes the door open and as soon as it closes, Jonny is on him again, his mouth on Patrick’s neck. His teeth are nipping at the skin while his hands are right back where they were before, under the hem of Patrick’s shirt. Patrick lets his head draw back against the wooden door and Jonny brushes his lips over the the side of his neck, where his pulse is beating, steady and strong. Patrick shuts his eyes, groaning when Jonny licks his neck and sinks his teeth into the skin and Patrick can feel his dick getting hard in his sweats.

He doesn’t care about the hickey that’s probably going to form on his neck at this point, he’s just glad Jonny’s here. Jonny takes Patrick’s shirt off and leads him to the bed where he hovers over him and presses their mouths together. It’s a slow and messy kiss but Patrick enjoys every second of it, grabbing the back of Jonny’s neck to keep their mouths together a little longer.

“Let me take care of you,” Jonny says.

Patrick hums. “Yeah,” he breathes.

Patrick sits up on the bed and takes his sweats off, eyes locked with Jonny as he does so, Jonny standing next to the bed working on pants of his own. His fingers are working on the belt without even looking and his pants are off in a second, Patrick’s eyes glued to the bulge in Jonny’s underwear.

“Keep your eyes up here, eh,” Jonny says, teasing as he gets on the bed next to Patrick and presses a kiss on top of his shoulder.

Patrick grins. “Don’t think I haven’t seen you stare at me too, Toews,” he retorts, turning to the side so that his eyes meet Jonny’s. “Watch it, or I might catch you drooling.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jonny says, shaking his head amusingly.

Patrick uses the fact that they’re lying side to side to his advantage and leans up to kiss Jonny again. He doesn’t think he can ever get tired of that mouth, or of the way Jonny kisses him. It has that rough edge yet Jonny kisses him so slowly that the first time they kissed, Patrick was pretty sure he could’ve gotten off from the kiss alone. Jonny’s hand cups his asscheek again and Patrick hums into the kiss before turning to the side and pulling the top drawer of his bedside table open and grabbing a bottle of KY and a condom that he places on the table.

Jonny takes the bottle and pours some onto his fingers, placing his other hand on Patrick’s shoulder. He touches Patrick’s hole with a finger, and applies some lube to the rim before he presses in. Patrick shuts his eyes and groans when Jonny’s finger is inside his ass, curling at the right place.

“You feel so good,” Jonny praises, kissing Patrick’s shoulder. “You good?”

Patrick nods. “Yeah, Jonny, just–fuck,” he babbles incoherently, his back arching when Jonny presses another finger in, scissoring it with the other. “Just fuck me already,” he says.

Jonny works his fingers into Patrick’s ass as Patrick writhes atop the mattress and he’s not exactly quiet, but Jonny seems to appreciate the noises he makes because every time Patrick groans, Jonny makes sure to hit his prostate again. When he adds a third finger, Jonny kisses Patrick’s shoulder and works his fingers into Patrick’s ass slowly, sending all kinds of shivers through Patrick’s body as he’s trying hard not to come simply from Jonny’s three fingers. Patrick opens his eyes, met instantly with Jonny’s brown ones and grins.

“That’s enough prep, you can fuck me,” Patrick says, even though it sounds more like a demand.

Jonny conks an eyebrow. “You sure? I want to make you feel good, Pat.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Just do it, Jon,” he says, and he’s almost begging.

Jonny nods, taking his fingers out of Patrick’s ass and grabbing a tissue from the bedside table to clean his fingers. Patrick watches him, eyes filled with arousal as Jonny takes the condom in his hand, tearing the foil packet open with his teeth. Patrick’s eyes follow his every move as Jonny slowly puts the condom on and when he’s done, Patrick lies on his back on the bed. Jonny hovers over him again and draws their lips together, as if it was the easiest thing ever.

“You ready?” Jonny asks, his lips mere inches away from Patrick’s.

Patrick nods. “Yeah, Jonny. Just-”

“I got you,” Jonny says, as he grabs the bottle of lube and starts coating himself with a sufficient amount of it.

He begins by giving himself a few pumps for good measure before lining up with Patrick’s hole, pushing in slowly, giving Patrick time to adjust as he pushes in balls deep. Jonny starts fucking into Patrick with shallow thrusts, taking his time. Patrick’s eyes flutter between open and shut as Jonny’s body picks up rhythm and then starts to fuck into him faster and Patrick pushes his head against the pillows, arching his back hoping it might help him take Jonny deeper.

Jonny starts pushing into Patrick at a faster pace, somehow hitting his prostate every time he bottoms out and Patrick thinks he’s going to lose it because it feels so good. Jonny’s mouth is on Patrick’s right as the rhythm stabilizes, his thrusts slower and somewhat harder. Patrick starts breathing faster, his cock is stiff and hard against his belly, a mess of pre-come smeared across his the skin there as Jonny still pushes into him with strong thrusts.

“Are you close, Pat? I want to see you come,” Jonny says, breathing loudly.

Patrick’s eyes flutter open and he says, “Yeah, Jonny. I just—please.”

Jonny leans down, draping his body over Patrick’s and fitting his mouth against his. He works one hand on Patrick’s dick and that makes Patrick groan, incoherent and uncoordinated. Patrick sighs against Jonny’s mouth because he knows he’s not gonna last much longer, Jonny’s grip tightening on his cock.

That seems to do it for Patrick because he can feel himself coming all over Jonny’s hand, warm white spurs spilling from the head of his dick. Jonny pulls out of Patrick’s ass and he lies next to Patrick on the bed, grabbing a few tissues from the bedside table on the way and handing them to Patrick so he can clean up the mess he made on himself. Patrick can’t take his eyes off him so he stares for a second and his eyes fall on Jonny’s cock, still hard against his stomach.

Patrick moves over to dispose of his used tissues and he leans over to Jonny, takes the condom off and asks, “Do you need help with that?”

Jonny nods and groans, “I’m not gonna last,” he answers, and Patrick doesn’t waste any time before he gets his mouth on Jonny.

Jonny’s thick but not too long, so Patrick doesn’t have much trouble fitting his mouth around him. Patrick sucks harder as Jonny’s fingers thread through his short hair, placing Patrick’s mouth right where he wants it.

“God, Pat, your mouth,” he says, and Patrick’s eyes flutter open. He looks up at Jonny and Jonny bites his bottom lip, looking right back at him. “You look so good. I’m–fuck–I’m close,” he adds, his eyes falling shut when Patrick takes him further back into his mouth.

Patrick gets his tongue right under Jonny’s balls, swiping his tongue flat across his taint before getting Jonny’s cock back into his mouth and it’s right at that moment that Jonny decides to come down Patrick’s throat. Patrick is a people pleaser, everyone knows it, so he swallows the whole thing and then lies next to Jonny on the bed, satisfied with how his day turned out after all.

Patrick stays on the bed for a few minutes, watching as Jonny walks around and gets about all of his clothes together into a small pile. Their eyes meet and Patrick grins as he watches Jonny walk towards him, completely naked. He watches the way Jonny’s arms flex as he nears the bed, his arms on each side of Patrick.

“I can’t believe that took us so long,” Jonny says, leaning to kiss Patrick’s lips quickly.

Patrick snorts. “I can’t believe you tried so hard to resist to _this_ ,” he retorts, moving his hands up and down his bare chest.

“I take it back,” Jonny groans. He places a hand on Patrick’s back as he lies next to him on the bed. “You’re the worst.”

They lie next to each other on the bed in complete silence for a few minutes. It’s nice, almost comfortable even, and Patrick finds himself turning to the side so he can face Jonny. He gets a real chance to take in all of his facial features from up close, from the two dents in Jonny’s cheek where two moles used to be, to the small quirk of his lips and the slight flush on his cheeks. Patrick finds himself smiling as he takes one of his hands and cups Jonny’s cheek.

“I really don’t want today to end if it’s going to be this good,” Patrick says. He looks up to find Jonny grinning at him.

“What?”

Jonny snickers. “You know, I’m going to have to leave at some point,” he argues, though he looks like he doesn’t want to leave for now.

“There’s still time, right? C’mon, you didn’t come all the way here just so you could fuck me, did you?” Patrick asks, curious.

“I came here as soon as I left the airport because I missed you. I’m really glad we had sex, though,” he explains.

Patrick hums happily, his head now laying on top of Jonny’s chest. “I suppose that makes sense. You could stay in bed with me a little longer though, right? You’re really warm.”

“Yeah, Kaner,” Jonny answers, letting the nickname slip once again, bringing a smile to Patrick’s lips.

Patrick closes his eyes after that and he lets Jonny drape his arm around him and he thinks he could stay like that for hours without any distractions if he could. He almost lets himself be lulled to sleep with Jonny’s calm heartbeat but Jonny presses a soft, careful kiss on his forehead and Patrick’s grinning again, unable to close his eyes.

“I’m really lucky, you know, to have found someone like you,” Jonny says, interrupting the silence after a few minutes of quiet.

Patrick moves around so he’s able to see Jonny’s face and he’s shocked to see that Jonny really means it. He elbows him in the shoulder lightly before asking, “Are you one of those guys that gets really sappy after sex, Jonny?”

“Depends. Are you into those guys?”

Patrick snorts. “I don’t know. I’m totally into you, though,” he retorts.

He ignores the feeling he gets in his stomach when he says that and instead, he tries to lay his head on Jonny’s chest again but it fails as the older man moves to the side and tries to get up. Patrick grabs ahold of his hand, hoping Jonny will catch on and lie next to him but it fails as Jonny starts putting his clothes back on. There’s something hot about the way he dresses up that gets Patrick going. He pulls his dress pants back up along with his belt, tucking in his dress shirt before buckling his belt.

“You’re leaving already?” Patrick asks, and his lips aren’t forming a full pout, but if they were, Patrick thinks Jonny might’ve given in.

Jonny sighs. “Yeah, I have a daughter to get home to. She hasn’t seen me in almost four days and she probably missed me,” he explains, running a hand through his hair.

Patrick completely understands the situation even though, in a way, he wishes Jonny never had to leave. He doesn’t say that though, he simply smiles.

“I’m sure she did. She’s a great kid, Jon, you did a good job raising her by yourself,” Patrick says, and now all the thoughts he had about Jonny’s mouth and his thighs are gone. So is his hard-on.

Jonny smiles as he finishes up tying his tie. “Now who’s the one getting sentimental, eh?”

Patrick groans and walks over to where Jonny is standing, close to the threshold of his bedroom and he wraps his arms around Jonny’s neck. "Is it too early for me to say that I hate you?"

"No," Jonny smirks. "But it's late enough for me to know you don't mean it."

Patrick laughs at that response. They exchange one last kiss before parting ways and then they pull back, leaving an adequate distance between the two of them.

“Kaner, hey,” Jonny says, when he walks out the door. “You should totally come over for dinner this week.”  

Patrick loves how Jonny is slowly starting to use that nickname more. He grins, “That sounds like a plan. See you tomorrow.”

Jonny nods his head once and then he’s gone, walking down the corridor and out the door.

That evening, when Patrick finally decides to leave his bedroom and take a shower, he thinks about the way Jonny’s hands were all over him and thinks about Jonny’s mouth pressing against his neck and he jerks off to thoughts of Jonny. He doesn’t think about anything else for the rest of the night, even when he’s sitting comfortably on his couch, fully clothed and working on projects for his kids, he can’t get Jonny off his mind and he can see how that may become a problem in the future.

Patrick falls asleep that night to the thought of waking up next to Jonny, one of his strong arms wrapped around Patrick as he sleeps soundly.

*

Patrick walks into work the following day in a good mood, and he smiles at everyone as he passes them in the hall. He’s earlier than usual but doesn’t mind. He woke up to three texts from Jonny, each stupider than the other, and it all just reassured his excitement to see him again today. After Jonny had left last night and Patrick got ready to sleep, he couldn’t help but stare at the bed, at the spot where he and Jonny had been not too long ago. Now, he glances up at the digital clock on the wall of the hallway. Jonny had already told Patrick that he was going to drop off and pick up Annabelle a little earlier than usual because he would be out of some team meeting quite quickly.

Patrick settles into his classroom, organizing the stuff he brought in for his kids on the table in the centre of the room. He looks around to see if anything needs preparing, and when nothing looks out of place, he settles into a chair at a larger table. Patrick pulls out a book he had begun reading, slipping his glasses out of their case in his bag.

It’s not too far into his book that Patrick gets interrupted by a soft knock on his door. His eyes flicker up to see Sharpy and Sadie, Sadie sitting gleefully in her dad’s arms. She had probably been the one to knock because the expression she gets on her face when Patrick looks up is a mix of shock and happiness.

“Hi, Pat!” Sadie waves a tiny hand at her teacher. Patrick smiles and greets them both back.

Sharpy puts his daughter on the ground and asks her, “Sadie, honey. How about you go hang out in Lauren’s class until the rest of your friends get here?”

“Okay, Daddy.” Her voice is quiet as she grabs her dad’s hand and he leads her towards the class across the hall.

He returns a moment later, strolling right into Patrick’s class, and not stopping until he comes face to face with Patrick. Sharpy gives him a slap on the back. “You look pretty happy today, eh buddy? I wonder what that’s about,” He questions, his right eyebrow quirking up.

Patrick shrugs. “Must be none of your damn business,” He brushes off the inquiry.

“Oh, Peeks,” Sharpy starts. “It’s always my damn business when it comes to your love life.”

Patrick rolls his eyes, knowing just how much Sharpy can press on a subject until he gets what he wants.

“How’s our Jonny boy?” Sharpy’s trying to sound casual and ultimately failing.

“Not _your_ boy,” Patrick grumbles. He’s half-heartedly admitted to Jonny being his and it feels good. It feels right.

Sharpy stares at him incredulously for a second. He’s quiet, and then: “You so got laid.”

Patrick fumbles with the book in his hand, his eyes wide as he turns to look at Sharpy. He has a smirk on his lips, as expected, and Patrick doesn’t have a time to retaliate because Jonny chooses that moment to saunter in. With Annabelle in tow, he strolls into the school with ease, waving at Lauren, who has also gotten to know him over the months spent here. He walks until he notices Patrick at the end of the hall. As though they were in some cartoon, Jonny visibly beams at him, leaning down to whisper something to Annabelle. When she lifts her head and notices Patrick and Sharpy, she lights up and drags her dad excitedly the rest of the way.

“Hi, Kaner! Hi, Sharpy!” Annabelle calls up to them. She’s got her hair tied in a tight braid, which swings around as she bounces towards them.

“Hello, Annabelle.” They each take a turn hugging her, until they stand up to greet her dad.

Jonny’s staring at Patrick. More specifically, his neck, which Patrick tried and failed to find a shirt that would cover the hickeys that trail his skin. They’re not too prominent but still easily noticeable from Jonny’s angle.

“Hey, Toews,” Sharpy says. He definitely sees the non subtleness with the way Patrick and Jonny are looking at each other. It causes him to send a wink Patrick’s way, already confirming with himself that he was right about his earlier assumption.

Patrick doesn’t really care, he just greets Jonny as well, “Hey.” He would have really preferred to kiss Jonny right there, if it weren’t for the other man standing a foot away from them. Still, he sends Sharpy a glare and the man takes a couple seconds before realizing what Patrick was trying to tell him.

“Why don’t we go join the others?” Sharpy has his hand out for Annabelle to grab, and she does.

Jonny leans down to kiss her on the forehead and then watches her disappear into a classroom. After that, he turns back to Patrick and in an instant, has his hands cupping Patrick’s face as he kisses him hard. Patrick kisses him back with just a bit more force, which sends Jonny a step back, his hands sliding to feather Patrick’s hips.

Patrick has missed this since yesterday and bites at Jonny’s lip a bit to remind him of that. The hallway is empty besides the two of them and Patrick uses that to his advantage to make out with Jonny some more.

Jonny eventually pulls away, but not too far, so that his breath still hits Patrick. “So,” Jonny is panting a little as he talks. “I’ve got a practice and then I’ll come pick up Annabelle, okay?”

Patrick nods. “Yeah.”

Jonny stares into Patrick’s eyes for a second longer, waiting to ask something. “Are you free this Friday? For dinner at mine?” He asks, and Patrick does remember this being brought up yesterday.

“Yeah, I’ll be free.” Patrick smiles. “Wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

Jonny’s face breaks into a grin after that and he surges forward to kiss Patrick again, his hand on Patrick’s cheek as he tilts their heads in just the right angle. That kiss is softer than the one they shared before, Jonny not using as much force as he pressed his mouth to Patrick’s. Jonny’s fingers are brushing against the soft, warm skin of Patrick’s hips as he places his hands under his shirt for a second. Patrick smiles into the kiss and then pulls back.

Knowing how Jonny feels about being late, he ushers the hockey player to the door quickly, without being able to resist pecking him on the lips one last time.

“See you at four,” Patrick breathes out.

He meets Jonny’s glance. “At four,” Jonny agrees.

Patrick waves Jonny goodbye as he descends the front steps, and then smiles all the way back to his class. When he’s gathered the first couple of his kids from Lauren’s class and brings them to his own, he spares himself a second to check his phone.

_I just left and I’m already thinking about the next time I’ll be able to kiss you_

It makes Patrick freeze and causes his heart to jump and his breath to still. He forces himself to focus on the kids that circle his legs, but he can’t keep his eyes nor his mind off the ticking numbers of the clock. Four o’clock.

[the end]

  


**Author's Note:**

> Come finds us on tumblr [here](http://jonnytazers.tumblr.com/) and [here](http://cmonpeeksy.tumblr.com/) :)


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